The Search for Us by Susan Azim Boyer - HIGH

The Search for Us by Susan Azim Boyer, 304 pages. Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Press), 2023. $21.

Language: R (175 swears, 26 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

With the upcoming college decision deadline, stress is rising for 17yo Samira (17yo) and Henry as they struggle to officially accept or decline due to their respective family drama. In the same week, these two teenagers, who have never met, choose to do DNA tests in an effort to find their fathers to come in and save the day. Instead, they find each other.

I love how Boyer addresses so many common mental issues that can be hard to live with, even if they aren’t diagnosed or categorized as mental illness. And it can be as difficult to navigate in real life as it was to read about. As Samira’s stress increased, so did my anxiety. It felt like bad just kept getting worse, until I was sure that the book was not going to have enough time to offer a solution. But despite how everything seemed to be wrong and was falling apart, Boyer showed readers that everything can still be okay—that we can make choices to be okay regardless of the circumstances we cannot control.

Samira and Kamron are Iranian/Persian, Irish, and American; Henry is Iranian/Persian, Russian, British, and American; Tara is implied Middle Eastern American and is also bisexual; Linh is Vietnamese; and Daniel is Black. The mature content rating is for alcohol use; groping; and mentions of drugs, condoms, and erection. The violence rating is for mild assault (hockey fighting) and for mentions of firearms and suicide.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen