An Impossible Thing to Say

Gr 8 Up–Persian-American playwright and rapper Shahi’s novel-in-verse explores themes of coming of age, cultural assimilation, and personal acceptance. In the homogeneity of Tucson, AZ, during the period leading up to and just after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, a multigenerational family impacted by the Iranian Revolution is trying to hold on to the threads of tradition, while finding their place in the community. Born to Muslim and Bahá’í parents, an illegal marriage in their home country, brothers Omid and Amir have grown up in an Americanized household, where Farsi was left in the past, but some aspects—Persian rugs, traditional cuisine, and a love of poetry—pervade. Omid’s father, a rug dealer, weaves language like the threads of precious rugs, and younger brother Amir has inherited the gift of gab, always able to charm. Omid struggles to find his voice, despite his love of language and his achievements in AP English. When he meets Emily, a new girl at school, Omid seizes the opportunity to connect with someone he sees as a fellow outsider, and they dazzle in the theater auditions, as Omid’s life plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy. Through the beloved bard, Omid discovers the strength of words and transforms himself into a poet-rapper, able to voice his fears about the confusing, conflicted, and dissonant world that surrounds him and find his footing in the family and at school.