Driving by Starlight

March 15, 2018
Two teenage girls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, rebel against a patriarchal culture while struggling to navigate their complex family lives.In this controlled, male-dominated society, no one escapes the scrutiny of the muttaween (religious police) except for those with power and money. Leena has had neither ever since her lawyer father fell into disgrace for leading protests against the government. Meanwhile, her best friend, Mishail, is the daughter of the minister of the interior, the man whose agency conducts surveillance on all communications in the country. Taking place following the 2011 Arab uprisings, Deracine's debut novel offers a snapshot of the lives of young Saudi women who are navigating universal concerns including gender roles, sexuality, politics, and fashion. Leena's rebellion leads her to disguise herself as a man and drive illegally and to sneak off to American gated compounds where the rules are less restrictive. Her relationships to Islam and Saudi culture evolve and mature as she seeks to understand the distinctions between the two. Tossing aside clichés and stereotypes of Saudi women as passive, helpless subjects to be pitied, the story shows teenage girls who take control of their futures by turning the very system that imprisons them against itself.The fast-paced narrative and unexpected twists make for an engaging yet educational novel with a powerful message about the complexities of being a woman in a man's world. (Fiction. 13-18)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from April 2, 2018
In Deracine’s suspenseful debut, a 16-
year-old girl navigates the high-stakes terrain of friendship, education, and cultural police in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Leena, whose dissident father is imprisoned, studies law and longs for college. Living in a home without men, Leena practices a risky custom called boyat, dressing as a man to escort her hardworking, tight-lipped, “full of secrets” mother on errands. Leena’s friend Mishail, a government official’s daughter, seeks adventure, wearing contraband lingerie, walking outside without a male escort, and flirting with boys, seemingly oblivious to the potential consequences: “Colored clothes could get you sent to the headmistress’s office. Boys got you beheaded.” Deracine offers an eye-opening window into the rigidly restricted lives, clandestine rebellions, and consequential choices of women in a land where “everything we want is forbidden or dangerous.” The perils inherent in trusting anyone affect all of Leena’s relationships, as bitter experience necessitates stringent precautions to distinguish allies from enemies. Whether describing the freedom of learning to drive (“Raw power flowed through my veins”) or her humiliating punishment when discovered disguised as a man (“I felt rather than heard my hair fall”), Leena’s commanding voice conveys her desperation, courage, and intellect in a riveting, ultimately exhilarating page-turner. Ages 13–18. Agent: Kate McKean, Howard Morhaim Agency.

September 1, 2018
Living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the time after the Arab Spring, best friends Leena and Mishail take delight in their small rebellions against their male-controlled, religiously strict society. Short dresses, makeup, joy rides, flirting with boys, selfies?all of it haraam (forbidden). But even at their silliest, the sixteen-year-old duo's rebellions carry the enormous risk of both girls being seized by the religious police. As Leena dresses in traditionally male garb to buy groceries without a chaperone, as she dreams of college and its relative freedom, and as truths about her father's imprisonment intersect with sudden ruptures in her relationship with Mishail, her flippancy falls away to reveal the precariousness of both girls' lives. Deracine's debut joins a growing oeuvre that centers the identities and experiences of young Muslim women of color, yet nuanced characterization and a twisting plot make this narrative stand out. The protagonist and her supporting cast of friends subvert Western ideas of Muslim women victimized by their cultures to show teens who fight for the futures they want without giving up who they are, even as the plot intertwines the angsts of teenage girlhood with the anxieties of politics and power. Arabic vocabulary and Saudi cultural concepts are explained (for outsiders) without bogging down the prose, and readers will also find an accompanying glossary. anastasia m. Collins

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2019
In postArab Spring Saudi Arabia, Leena and her best friend Mishail delight in small rebellions against their male-controlled, religiously strict society. But Leena's flippancy soon falls away to reveal the precariousness of both girls lives. In a growing oeuvre centering on experiences of young Muslim women, Deracine's debut stands out for its nuanced characterization and twisting plot. Arabic vocabulary and Saudi cultural concepts are explained for outsiders without bogging down the prose. Glos.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from March 15, 2018
Two teenage girls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, rebel against a patriarchal culture while struggling to navigate their complex family lives.In this controlled, male-dominated society, no one escapes the scrutiny of the muttaween (religious police) except for those with power and money. Leena has had neither ever since her lawyer father fell into disgrace for leading protests against the government. Meanwhile, her best friend, Mishail, is the daughter of the minister of the interior, the man whose agency conducts surveillance on all communications in the country. Taking place following the 2011 Arab uprisings, Deracine's debut novel offers a snapshot of the lives of young Saudi women who are navigating universal concerns including gender roles, sexuality, politics, and fashion. Leena's rebellion leads her to disguise herself as a man and drive illegally and to sneak off to American gated compounds where the rules are less restrictive. Her relationships to Islam and Saudi culture evolve and mature as she seeks to understand the distinctions between the two. Tossing aside clich�s and stereotypes of Saudi women as passive, helpless subjects to be pitied, the story shows teenage girls who take control of their futures by turning the very system that imprisons them against itself.The fast-paced narrative and unexpected twists make for an engaging yet educational novel with a powerful message about the complexities of being a woman in a man's world. (Fiction. 13-18)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.