Elhillo, Safia: Home Is Not A Country

Make Me a World, paperback Publication Date: February 22, 2022 Publisher Marketing: From the acclaimed poet featured on Forbes Africa's "30 Under 30" list, this powerful novel-in-verse captures one girl, caught between cultures, on an unexpected journey to face the ephemeral girl she might have been. Woven through with moments of lyrical beauty, this is a tender meditation on family, belonging, and home.my mother meant to name me for her favorite flowerits sweetness garlands made for pretty girlsi imagine her yasmeen bright & alive& i ache to have been born her insteadNima wishes she were someone else. She doesn't feel understood by her mother, who grew up in a different land. She doesn't feel accepted in her suburban town; yet somehow, she isn't different enough to belong elsewhere. Her best friend, Haitham, is the only person with whom she can truly be herself. Until she can't, and suddenly her only refuge is gone.As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple