Monday, August 24, 2009

MC Spotlight #24: Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim

Now for YA Fresh MC Spotlight #24!

Skunk Girl

If Nina Khan were to rate herself on the unofficial Pakistani prestige point system – the one she’s sure all the aunties and uncles use to determine the most attractive marriage prospects for their children – her scoring might go something like this:

+2 points for getting excellent grades
–3 points for failing to live up to expectations set by genius older sister
+4 points for dutifully obeying parents and never, ever going to parties, no matter how antisocial that makes her seem to everyone at Deer Hook High
–1 point for harboring secret jealousy of her best friends, who are allowed to date like normal teenagers
+2 points for never drinking an alcoholic beverage
–10 points for obsessing about Asher Richelli, who talks to Nina like she’s not a freak at all, even though he knows that she has a disturbing line of hair running down her back
In this wryly funny debut novel, the smart, sassy, and utterly lovable Nina Khan tackles friends, family, and love, and learns that it’s possible to embrace two very different cultures – even if things can get a little bit, well, hairy.
Read an excerpt here!

Sheba Karim was born and raised in Catskill, NY. She is a graduate of the New York University School of Law and the Iowa Writers Workshop. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in 580 Split, Asia Literary Review, Barn Owl Review, DesiLit, EGO, Kartika Review, and Shenandoah. One of her short stories was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her young adult novel, Skunk Girl, was published in 2009. She is the recipient of a 2009-2010 Fulbright-Nehru research grant to work on her next novel in India. Visit the author's website, www.shebakarim.com/.

3 fresh comments:

TinaFerraro said...

I'd read this book based on the cover alone! =)

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

I know, very cool cover!!

Unknown said...
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