American Fever (The sharp and spiky debut novel from the winner of the Financial Times Essay Prize) - Dur e Aziz Amna

''A subversive debut... Her spiky prose style provocatively undercuts received narratives about the "American dream" from the immigrant''s perspective'' Guardian''Unforgettable... Rarely does a book sharpen how you see the world around you, but American Fever does just that. It dazzled me on every page'' Julie Buntin, author of Marlena*The winner of an Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature*On a year-long exchange programme in rural Oregon, sixteen-year-old Hira must swap Kashmiri chai for volleyball practice and understand why everyone around her seems to dislike Obama. An unforgettably witty narrator, Hira finds herself stuck between worlds. The experience is memorable for reasons both good and bad; a first kiss, new friends, racism, Islamophobia, homesickness. Along the way Hira starts to feel increasingly unwell until she begins coughing up blood, and receives a diagnosis of tuberculosis, pushing her into quarantine and turning her newly-established world upside down.''Marks the debut of a thrilling new global voice'' Peter Ho Davies''Completely engrossing . . . Amna''s prose moves along quickly and Hira''s appraisal of the people and places she encounters is sharp and untarnished by tact'' Dawn