The Secret Sky: A Novel of Forbidden Love in Afghanistan

by Atia Abawi

Overview

An eye-opening, heart-rending tale of love, honor and betrayal from veteran foreign news correspodent Atia Abawi

Fatima is a Hazara girl, raised to be obedient and dutiful. Samiullah is a Pashtun boy raised to defend the traditions of his tribe. They were not meant to fall in love. But they do. And the story that follows shows both the beauty and the violence in current-day Afghanistan as Fatima and Samiullah fight their families, their cultures and the Taliban to stay together. Based on the people Atia Abawi met and the events she covered during her nearly five years in Afghanistan, this stunning novel is a must-read for anyone who has lived during America's War in Afghanistan.

Perfect for fans of Patricia McCormick, Linda Sue Park, and Khaled Hosseini, this story will stay with readers for a long time to come.


* “A suspenseful, enlightening, and hopeful love story.” Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Riveting plot, sympathetic characters and straightforward narration studded with vivid, authentic detail: a top choice.” – Kirkus review

 “Heartbreaking and heartwarming.” – VOYA review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142424063
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	06/02/2015
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	720L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Atia Abawi is a foreign news correspondent who was stationed for almost five years in Kabul, Afghanistan. She was born to Afghan parents in West Germany and was raised in the United States. She currently lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Conor Powell. You can follow her on Twitter @AtiaAbawi.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One Fatima
(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "The Secret Sky"
by .
Copyright © 2015 Atia Abawi.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Young Readers Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for THE SECRET SKY
  

• "Disturbing depictions of physical, emotional, and sexual violence against women, men, and children, both within families and between different groups, contrast with extravagant acts of courage, kindness, and sacrifice....A suspenseful, enlightening, and hopeful love story."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Riveting plot, sympathetic characters and straightforward narration studded with vivid, authentic detail: a top choice."—Kirkus Reviews

"Abawi writes with a gentle hand" in "this heartbreaking rendering of forbidden love."—Booklist

"[A] fascinating, if disturbing, examination of what Abawi calls in her author’s note a 'traditionally conservative society' faced with globalization and modernity."—BCCB 
  "[The Secret Sky is] a tale of the indomitable Afghan spirit of hope and love. Among the many novels set in Afghanistan for young people or for adults, The Secret Sky stands alone. Unputdownable. Unforgettable."—Trent Reedy, author of Words in the Dust

“The Secret Sky brilliantly captures the magic and the heartbreak of Afghanistan as only someone rooted in its mystery can....This first novel by a top foreign correspondent has the authenticity of raw journalism and the poetry of a gifted writer. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the contradictions of the Afghan soul.”—Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and anchor of Andrea Mitchell Reports
 
“A riveting tale written from the heart....This powerful love story will leave you angry at injustice, and awed by courage. It shocks and inspires.”—Lyse Doucet, Chief International Correspondent, BBC

“The Secret Sky is an amazing combination of utterly searing and beautifully romantic. It was like reading The Kite Runner—a gripping story that gave insight to this brutal yet magical culture.”—Daphne Benedis-Grab, author of The Girl in the Wall

 

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Secret Sky

* “A suspenseful, enlightening, and hopeful love story.” Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Riveting plot, sympathetic characters and straightforward narration studded with vivid, authentic detail: a top choice.” – Kirkus review

“Heartbreaking and heartwarming.” – VOYA review

“Abawi writes with a gentle hand as she tells a tale of tribal rituals that’s chilling to the bone….Abawi’s introduction, author’s note, and generous glossary supply welcome context for this heartbreaking rendering of forbidden love.” – Booklist review

"[The Secret Sky is] a tale of the indomitable Afghan spirit of hope and love. Among the many novels set in Afghanistan for young people or for adults, The Secret Sky stands alone. Unputdownable. Unforgettable." –Trent Reedy, author of Words in the Dust

“The Secret Sky brilliantly captures the magic and the heartbreak of Afghanistan as only someone rooted in its mystery can....This first novel by a top foreign correspondent has the authenticity of raw journalism and the poetry of a gifted writer. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the contradictions of the Afghan soul.” –Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and anchor of Andrea Mitchell Reports
 
“A riveting tale written from the heart....This powerful love story will leave you angry at injustice, and awed by courage. It shocks and inspires.” –Lyse Doucet, Chief International Correspondent, BBC

“The Secret Sky is an amazing combination of utterly searing and beautifully romantic. It was like reading The Kite Runner—a gripping story that gave insight to this brutal yet magical culture.” –Daphne Benedis-Grab, author of The Girl in the Wall

From the Publisher

★ 06/30/2014
Three characters take turns narrating foreign correspondent Abawi’s debut, about a cross-cultural love affair that tears at a small Afghan community. Pashtun landowners and Hazara farmers maintain a respectful peace—their children play together, but a “Hazara girl could never marry a Pashtun boy.” Fatima dreams of a future in Kabul, where girls “can become doctors, lawyers, midwives and even artists!” After Samiullah returns home, disillusioned with teachers’ cruel indoctrination at his madrassa, his childhood friendship with Fatima blossoms into love. Meanwhile, Samiullah’s cousin Rashid seeks to gain favor with the local Taliban by reporting their attachment, resulting in horrific consequences for both families. Decades of tribal strife influence the present, causing some to cling to tradition, while others encourage change, like a grandmother teaching her granddaughter to read. Disturbing depictions of physical, emotional, and sexual violence against women, men, and children, both within families and between different groups, contrast with extravagant acts of courage, kindness, and sacrifice. Throughout, Fatima, Samiullah, and Rashid wrestle with what constitutes faithful living, as represented by two mullahs offering wildly different interpretations. A suspenseful, enlightening, and hopeful love story. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

07/01/2014
Gr 9 Up—Fatima and Samiullah have known each other their whole lives, growing up together in a rural village in Afghanistan. She is a Hazara girl, he a Pashtun boy; they should not be considered equal, but their village is relatively open-minded. Sami has recently returned from a stint at the madrassa, an Islamic religious school. Now a teen, it is no longer permissible for Fatima to spend time alone with any men outside of her family. However, she and Sami cannot deny their mutual attraction and begin spending time together in secret, risking their lives in doing so. Rashid, Sami's cousin, discovers their secret and threatens to reveal all. This is an important story; it gives sensitive insight to a culture that many Americans do not understand beyond what they read in headlines. It also does not shy away from the horrors of a deeply divided, war-torn country: boys are raped, murder is widespread, and parents mutilate their own daughters. The author's introduction, note, and glossary give helpful, enriching background. That said, it is difficult to get past the marginal writing. Clichés abound—water sparkles like diamonds, hearts race and skip a beat regularly, lips are consistently described as "perfect" or "heart-shaped"—and there is more telling than showing. Rashid's chapters are a weak spot. Meandering prose about pomegranate trees disrupt the story's flow and pacing. The author has an authoritative voice about Afghan culture, and so many readers could benefit from a well-written, gripping story about that country's nuances and challenges; regrettably, this is not it.—Laura Lutz, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City

School Library Journal

2014-07-16
At its heart, this gripping debut by an Afghan-American journalist is a simple love story, but in today's Afghanistan—riven by culture clashes, scarred by decades of war—nothing is simple. Fatima's tiny village is isolated from city amenities but not from war. Its Pashtun and Hazara families have endured heartbreaking losses and, amid crushing poverty, hold tight to what remains. The elderly woman teaching her to read recalls freer times, but Fatima, who's Hazara and barely past puberty, faces a drastically limited future—her mother wants her married. When Fatima's childhood Pashtun friend, Samiullah, returns from his madrassa, their mutual attraction grows. But even chaste meetings violate strict cultural edicts; transgressions can have lethal consequences. Their discovery by Sami's cousin Rashid, embittered by jealousy and family tragedy, sets in motion events that change their lives, and those of their families and village, forever. All characters are Afghans, political attributions vague or neutral (the Taliban's criticized but not vilified). Abawi reserves condemnation for the violent, twisted opportunists who take advantage of chaos. Juxtaposed with horrific events, the tone and stylistic conventions of lighter teen fare occasionally feel jarring. First-person, present-tense narration confines the story to the here and now, yet that immediacy brings closer this ancient, complicated country bound to ours. Riveting plot, sympathetic characters and straightforward narration studded with vivid, authentic detail: a top choice. (author's note, glossary) (Fiction. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews