Author(s): Sara El Sayed

Biography

How do you find yourself without losing your family? A memoir about growing up, breaking the rules and negotiating culture, from a new Australian voice.A hilarious, heartwarming memoir of growing up and becoming oneself in an Egyptian Muslim family At the turn of the millennium, Soos is growing up in an eccentric household with a lot of rules. No bikinis, despite the South-East Queensland heat. No boys, unless he's Muslim. And no life insurance, not even when her father gets cancer. Soos is trying to discover how to balance her parents' strict decrees with having friendships, crushes and the freedom to develop her own values. With each rule Soos comes up against, she is forced to choose between doing what her parents say is right and following her instincts. When her family collapses, she comes to see her parents as flawed, their morals based on a muddy logic. But she will also learn that they are her strongest defenders. For readers of Benjamin Law's The Family Law and Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem, this quick, clever, warm-hearted book introduces a talented new Australian voice.