Young Adult Fiction (Mature Readers)

Canadian Writer  Deborah Ellis  Moon at Noon Allen & Unwin, 2015   $21.99pb 256pp

ISBN 978 1 7601 1197 7

Themes: Ayatollah Khomeini / Gay relationships/ Iran 1988

REVIEWED FOR AROUND THE BOOKSHOPS BY 

BARBARA ELSE

This is a book that will shock and awaken. Even though it is set in Iran 1988, at first the novel might seem predictable. Teenage Farrin is another lonely girl in a school bristling with rules, dominated by a mean Principal and spiteful monitors.

But outside the school the country is dominated by the Ayatollah Khomeini and the Revolutionary Guard. In this already dangerous society where being gay is punished by execution, Farrin finds herself in love with another girl. Events are based on real life so the twists and turns of the plot become doubly exciting, doubly appalling. I couldn’t stop reading. As one of the characters tells Farrin, ‘Truth is always the most important thing, even when it leads us into dark places.’ Farrin’s illuminates history, the cruelty of prejudice and the power of love.

Year 9 up/ Age 13 up