Watched

by Marina Budhos

Marina Budhos’s extraordinary and timely novel examines what it’s like to grow up under surveillance, something many Americans experience and most Muslim Americans know.
 
Naeem is far from the “model teen.” Moving fast in his immigrant neighborhood in Queens is the only way he can outrun the eyes of his hardworking Bangladeshi parents and their gossipy neighbors. Even worse, they’re not the only ones watching. Cameras on poles. Mosques infiltrated. Everyone knows: Be careful what you say and who you say it to. Anyone might be a watcher.
 
Naeem thinks he can charm his way through anything, until his mistakes catch up with him and the cops offer a dark deal. Naeem sees a way to be a hero—a protector—like the guys in his brother’s comic books. Yet what is a hero? What is a traitor? And where does Naeem belong?
 
Acclaimed author Marina Budhos delivers a riveting story that’s as vivid and involving as today’s headlines.

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Fiction, Teen, Cultural, Middle Grade

272 pages, Library Binding

First published September 13, 2016

About the author

Marina Budhos is an author of award-winning fiction and nonfiction. Her most recent novel is We Are All We Have, about Rania, a teenage asylum seeker, whose life is suddenly shattered and she goes on the road, in search of sanctuary, and family truths. Previously she published The Long Ride, Watched, which received an Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature YA Honor and a The Walter Award Honor. Her other novels include Tell Us We're Home, a 2017 Essex County YA Pick and Ask Me No Questions, recipient of a James Cook Teen Book Award, The Professor of Light, House of Waiting, and a nonfiction book, Remix: Conversations with Immigrant Teenagers. With her husband Marc Aronson, she co-authored Eyes of the World: Robert Capa & Gerda Taro & The Invention of Modern Photojournalism and Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom & Science, a 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Award Finalist. Budhos has been a Fulbright Scholar to India, received there Fellowships from the New Jersey Council on the Arts and is a professor emerita at William Paterson University.

Reviews

[Brendan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great premise, and it starts out strong, as Naeem is a sympathetic and authentic teenage screwup. But what sounds like it should be a thriller is very slow-paced and nearly devoid of suspense. As the novel goes on and Naeem is in a very tricky situation, the stakes are just never raised, so that, for me, the ending felt flat and a little deus ex machina-y.

This is a matter of personal taste, but it felt overwritten to me. Lots of poetic passages, and lots of things said three different ways when I got it with one. For example: "I am more than they can see. Even with the fasting I've never felt so light. I am a nighthawk, winging from neighborhood to neighborhood...." Some readers might like this, but to me, especially because the plot wasn't advancing at the speed I wanted, these passages felt frustrating.

Finally, and this may be petty, but Budhos' apparent grudge against conjunctions really started to bother me. So there are sentences like, "I touch it to my mouth, break the skin" on nearly every page. I'm not coming at this from a pedantic place--the "rules" are actually fake, and fiction writers and poets get to break them at will--but nobody really talks like that. Like, no one would say, "I ordered a burger, fries," but Naeem says stuff like this constantly, and for me, it drew attention to the writing at the expense of immersion in the story.

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you know someone who could turn extremist? Naeem is just helping out a friend when two men from the government offer him a deal. They won’t press charges for what they caught him doing… if he does some work for them. Soon he finds himself joining groups to gather information, stalking his friends online, and telling his government contacts every little suspicion he has. This created story is based on the author’s research surrounding intelligence practices in a post-9-11 world. Naeem is not strictly a victim, and this is not an area of straightforward, black and white, wrong and right. In a tricky political climate, teens will appreciate seeing what some of the headlines look like on the ground floor. Recommended for middle and high school teen audiences. //review written for another source in December of 2016

Wow, it's interesting to read that in 2019 (August, as I write). Things have changed so much with our ::cough cough:: current president.

I took this book out to local middle schools (6-8th grade) in January 2017. Kids were excited to hear about the scene that I described, where Naeem tries to get into a club with a fake ID.
I remember being impressed with how this book demonstrates how insidious personal change and boundary pushing can be. First you do this one little thing, just to help someone out. Then you have to do this other thing, and it gets bigger and bigger. But how can you truly know that a person is trustworthy? How do you know if they're someone who could do something terrible? How do you know if you're someone who could do something terrible? Could turning them in be a more terrible act than the terrible thing that they may or may not do? What are the circumstances in which you could be pushed that far?

I found this book incisively believable.
Deeply disturbing.
And how much deeper are we now.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a decent premise but the writing is unengaging and flat-out boring. I finished the book to find out what happens but that was really a waste of time.

[Amy Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I first thought what I was signing up for was a sort of dystopian novel...and in many cases, it is.  But what I got was an important contribution in the dialogue surrounding Muslims and multicultural literature.  There's a fine line between being perceived as a threat and truly not being okay, and this novel does a wonderful job treading that line of whether to be paranoid or not, especially in a world so racialized and racist.  And what's one to do when it's your friends you're spying on?  Family?  And all just to get out of a minor offense--something all readers can understand is completely and totally blackmail.  

I also think that this is a really wonderful reminder that not all realistic YA fiction is the same.  Middle grade lit can be a little more speculative and fantastical, I believe, but YA fiction tends to be boxed off to the typical coming of age and going to college and finding a boyfriend or girlfriend.  But in quite a bit of communities of color, tales aren't just that--so many literatures about these communities also focus on racism and colorism and the real life consequences of being born a certain way in our society.  And to find one that's so genuine about paranoia and profiling is really fulfilling, even to a white reader like me.  I can definitely say it helped me better understand what it must be like to be in that mindset, and how close danger truly is at all times.  This book was a wonderful read. 

Review cross-listed here!

[Karlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This timely novel makes one consider the problems of those whom the police recruit to help watch for terrorist plots. A teenage immigrant caught up in watching Moslem sites for the police is gradually drawn in deeper and deeper. The fine writing made me slow down to relish the words.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD! I read this for Book Club and I loved it. It talked about real-world problems and how someone is always watching your movements. It is especially important for a book like this at this point in history. There are cameras everywhere, tracking your movements. Your information you put online can be seen by anyone. All in all, I just really liked this book. I would definitely recommend it.

[Hadley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was amazing! I loved all of the adventure and detail, but I didn't like the ending. It wasn't what I was expecting, which should be a good thing, but I don't think what happened really worked for me. In all though, it was a great book.

[abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

did not expect this to like...touch me the way it did. pleasantly content with this read

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens to Naeem, the book's protagonist, could happen to almost anyone, but Naeem is particularly vulnerable because he is an immigrant Muslim teen living in Queens, New York. He's always been able to scrape by on his charm, but when a couple of mistakes bring him to the attention of law enforcement officials, he faces a dilemma. Either he plays by their rules and gives them the information they want, or they can make life very hard for him and his hard-working family. At first, Naeem thinks he can fool these cops, and then he thinks he might be able to be a hero by giving them the information they seek. But the more mired he becomes in his efforts to uncover possible terrorists or radicals, the more he questions what he's doing. After all, there's a fine line between protesting against certain actions or thinking about making changes in the world and actually acting on those impulses. The deeper Naeem is drawn into this situation and the more he explores websites and meets individuals who are trying to do good work, the more confused he becomes about the wavy lines between someone who is a hero and someone who is a villain. Although he spends most of the book getting further and further from the truth and from his own values and identity, eventually he finds himself and makes the right choices. I'd love to know what happens next, and I applaud the author for tackling this particular issue. Through this book, she has forced readers to examine their own actions and assumptions and reminded them/us that someone is always watching, and there are records of much of what we do. I read this book several months ago, and it still sticks with me because of how realistic Naeem's story seems to be. I felt as though I were reading something that could have been pulled from a newspaper headline and then had the back story provided to it. The author nails Naeem's personality completely as well as the tentativeness of his father and stepmother as they themselves try to navigate this strange new world. It's hard not to feel cynical during Naeem's interactions with the law enforcement agents as well as not to feel as though we've been transported to a very intellectually unsafe, high tech version of a George Orwellian 1984 in which a boy is being asked to spy on his friends, neighbors, and acquaintances. I suggest that everyone read and think about this book.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very timely little book, and it was a fast and intense read. The main character is a Muslim teenager living with his immigrant parents in New York City during the time of intense surveillance of the mosques and Muslim communities. When he ends up on the wrong side of the law, officers recruit him to spy on his friends and neighbors. At first he feels like he might be helping to protect them, but as the spying gets more complicated and morally ambiguous, he has some tough decisions to make. Good story.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't so much an enjoyable read as an important contribution to the conversation about the Muslim teenager experience today in a society that is fearful of immigrants. I would highly recommend to my high school students to expose them to a perspective they rarely see in our small Midwest town.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still processing this one, but: this is an important book for teenagers (and adults, but teens are the intended audience). There is a whole lot packed in to a somewhat spare and poetic story, things about community, culture, race, policing, ethics, friendships, family, what it means to do "good", where moral lines lie. It would be great to unpack in discussion.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fiction, but based on actual practices of the NYPD who scared kids into being snitches against their community. I think the best part about the book is just how easy and mundane the violations of peoples rights and humanity are.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

it’s nice to see a relevant issue not often covered in YA lit, surveillance and Islamophobia. This definitely felt like a younger YA book, something that would work for middle school readers.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Queens, Queens, Queens social issue spy thriller that works as a timely YA. A lot to like here - will have more coherent thoughts another time.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sobering books reveals the consequences of our "surveillance culture" and the moral and ethical consequences on both the watchers and the watched.

Chilling!

[Noah Z]

Watched By, Marina Budhos
Paperback | $9.99
Published by Ember
May 15, 2018 | 272 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4| Young Adult
ISBN 9780553534214

For a troubled teen struggling to stay in school and hanging out with the wrong crowd; one bad decision may change his perspective on the whole world. During this realistic fiction book, Naeem, a Bangladeshi immigrant, has trouble fitting in at school. One day Naeem and close friend Ibrahim are out shopping when Naeem tries to slip some designer items into his bag. Once Naeem is brought to the station, police strike him an offer. If he watches the Muslim population for terrorism, he doesn't go to jail. But when he is asked to hone in on a close friend, he asks himself if his friendship is more important than his police work.
Award-winning author Marina Budhos writes about Muslim and religion issues with her previous books like Tell Us We’re Home and Ask Me No Questions. She is concerned about religious and ethical problems in current times. In Watched, Budhos discusses how the problem of stereotyping certain religions is an issue in our current world. Budhos wants to bring awareness about the Muslim surveillance system in New York, that persisted for fourteen years until 2016. This was a surveillance program that was started after 9/11 to keep an eye on Muslims. This book slowly reveals the information which leads to most of the tension. At times it may lead the reader with not enough information but will later reveal it in later chapters.
This book is well suited for YA readers. It is a riveting book that considers important questions throughout. Readers of mystery or suspense will love this gripping novel.

[Emma Newland · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Someone is always watching.” This is the intriguing subtitle to Marina Budhos’s realistic fiction book Watched. In this captivating book, Naeem a Bangladesh kid, moves to America when he is eleven after his father had moved many years before. Back in Bangladesh he was a great student, however after seeing his father with a woman only a few years older than him, he didn’t think he had the same connection with him as he did before. After this his grades dropped, and he hung around with the “cool kids”- or more like the drop outs. He then is forced to take a job as a “watcher” and gets paid very well. He has to watch his friend Ibrahim, but before they arrest him he runs off.
The theme of this compelling book, is you may be surprised where you end up. This is because in the book Naeem was a drop-out until he got into trouble and he was forced to go undercover and “watch”, he then got to do summer school. I recommend this book for people who like action and mystery.

[Nicholas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have you ever had a friend who wasn't really a good friend, I know I have and it kinda stinks when you do. Marina Budhos’ Watched is a realistic fiction about a boy named Naeem who moves to the United States of America and is faced with many problems; one problem that is recurring is that it is important who your friends are and who you put your trust into. How would you feel if you and your friend were shopping and then all the sudden they were stuffing clothes in your bag and told you to run, not good right? This essay will dive deeper into the theme than you would if you were just reading the book.
I read this book and it wasn't to my liking because it was hard to get into and it was a slow pace. Although if you like books about people who have a hard time and try to fix it then this book is definitely for you

[Margi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naeem gets caught shoplifting and “persuaded” by the police to become a “watcher” in exchange for staying out of jail. He must lurk in mosques, study groups and online looking for extremists and give information about his observations to the cops. YA realistic fiction: fitting in, doing the right thing, immigrant experience. Has a slight mystery/thriller tone to it.

[Richie Partington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richie’s Picks: WATCHED by Marina Budhos, Wendy Lamb Books, September 2016, 272p., ISBN: 978-0-553-53418-4

“NEWTON, Iowa — Donald Trump ‘would certainly implement’ a database system tracking Muslims in the United States, the Republican front-runner told NBC News on Thursday night.
“‘I would certainly implement that. Absolutely,’ Trump said in Newton, Iowa, in between campaign town halls.
“‘There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases,’ he added. ‘We should have a lot of systems.’
When asked whether Muslims would be legally obligated to sign into the database, Trump responded, ‘They have to be — they have to be.’ Later, Trump was repeatedly asked to explain the difference between requiring Muslims to enter their information into a database and making Jewish people register in Nazi Germany. He responded four times by saying, ‘You tell me.’”
-- from “Trump’s plan for a Muslim database draws comparison to Nazi Germany” msnbc.com, 11/19/15

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
-- from the First Amendment of the United States Constitution

WATCHED is a high-stakes coming-of-age story about a teenage Bangladeshi immigrant, a high school senior in New York City, who is compelled to become a spy against other Muslim Americans.

“I’m all alone. I relax. I can hear the muffled sound of the speakers inside. Quickly, I slide out my phone, set the registration pages on the table, and press. Click. Another page, click. Four in all. It’s smooth-swift, faster than I would have thought. Thrilling, even. When break time comes, I offer to take a few pictures. I perch in the front row for the next speaker, snap some of him and the audience. Ishrat gives me a grateful look. The edges of her pupils, I notice, have a touch of gold. My stomach flops over. I can’t tell if I’m glad this is so easy or dismayed,
“That afternoon, when I join one of the workshops, is when the shift begins. I start to know what I’m doing. It’s like putting myself through a door and realizing it’s made of melting glass. It’s not so hard. You can step right through and be on the other side. Your shoulders, your arms are made of putty. You are stronger, more flexible than you think.
“The best thing about being one of the kids at the back of the room is you’re already a spy. You know how to fake it. The other guys who are poking their hands in the air, involved, could never do what I can. I’ve got all the moves, the feints and angles. I know how to rearrange my face, make it attentive. How to slant my body, use my arm to hide my phone. Half listen while a camera coolly spools inside my head. For the first time, what I’m good at--lying with my body--has power.”

As we’re meeting Naeem, he’s hitting rock bottom: He’s been blowing off school and won’t be able to graduate in June with his class. He’s been hanging around with the wrong guy. He’d been caught shoplifting previously and was let off with a warning. This time. when he’s caught leaving a department store after being set up by his so-called friend, the cops also find a bag of weed in his backpack.

Naeem has few options when the pair of detectives holding him in custody offer him an opportunity to avoid the consequences of his misbehavior. In exchange for not being booked, they want him to spy on Muslims, both online and around New York City. They will pay him good money for whatever worthwhile information he accumulates.

Interestingly, in order to fit into the community and be accepted at mosques and in young Muslim organizations, Naeem has to clean up his act so that he's believable. His experience as a high school thespian made him observant to detail and able to successfully assume a role. He begins styling himself as a clean-cut, educated, and considerate young Muslim. Playing the role drastically improves his behavior.

His secret job also helps mend his shaky family relationships.

When Naeem was young, his father came to America on a work visa and left him behind in Bangladesh with his mother. After his mother got sick and eventually died, Naeem spent years there, living with relatives. Eventually, thanks to his father’s subsequent arranged marriage to an Americanized Muslim immigrant who has gained citizenship, Naeem was able to immigrate and join the family in New York City. Due to his behavior and the family’s financial straits, there’s been tension between Naeem and his father. But his new appearance and behavior, coupled with the significant sums of money he’s been able to give to his family (while hiding the true nature of his “employment”), brings the family closer.

When the detectives show Naeem a jihadist recruitment video, Naeem buys into the notion that his spying is important in protecting his community rather than a betrayal of that community. It appears that his recruitment by the police is complete.

But how will his loyalty to friends, family, and community compete with his notion of being a superhero spy saving America?

WATCHED is a powerful, provocative, and essential read. As the clock ticks down toward Election Day 2016, it is a tale that could not be more relevant to the national dialogue.

Richie Partington, MLIS

[Jessica]

While I understand that this book is based on true events, I'm not sure how I feel about this kind of representation—a Muslim American teen who grapples with loyalty and surveillance in the face of radicalization. At the very least, it makes me extremely uncomfortable.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book just confused me. I didn't really understand what was happening, although it was well written.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

No. Just no. DO NOT PICK THIS BOOK UP.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was asked whether or not I would be interested in reading Watched, I knew I had to jump at the opportunity! It sounded like a most interesting story and not like anything I have read before. I have always been interested in learning about cultures and religious different from my own. There is a deep-rooted belief in my heart that diversity makes this world positively wonderful and worthwhile. How boring would it be if we were all the same? How limiting would it be if every neighborhood looked the same, every citizen behaved the same, everybody listened to the same music, dressed the same way, believed the same? Our differences are what make this world great! To be able to see the world from the perspective of others is a necessity to learn, grow, and become better human beings. So, to get back to my point, I could not wait to get a glimpse into Naeem's life and see the world through his eyes.

Naeem is a definitely not the most well-behaved teenager in the world. He's slacking in his senior year of high school, hanging with the wrong crowd, partaking in habits that can get him locked away, and worrying his parents sick. He gets into a tough spot with the authorities, but they offer him a deal to get out of trouble: become a watcher and report back any news of possible terrorism to them. He'll even get paid! Naeem feels as though he'll be helping his family and community by protecting them from the extremists - not to mention avoiding prison - so he takes the job. It's not always an easy road for him and I can't even imagine what it would be like to have to basically be a snitch and monitor the people in your community. Maybe I'm projecting, but I feel as though Naeem tries hard to convince himself he's doing the right thing, but he can't shake the feeling that this spying on everyone is wrong. I do believe his heart is in the right place. I believe he truly wants to better himself and he feels as though this may be the way. But is it?

I loved be able to see how close and respectful he is to his stepmother. She seems like such a sweet and caring women, that if he wasn't nice to her, I'd have to box his ears! He is also fairly close to his half-brother, who basically worships his older brother. It's rather adorable. He has a tough relationship with his father. He grew up in Bangladesh without him for a time while his father moved to the United States and set himself up before he could bring Naeem over. That put a bit of a strain on their relationship and made it hard for them to feel close to one another. Then there's the fact that Naeem kind of messes up a lot and his father gets easily exasperated with him. I liked that Naeem wanted to please his family, but he had a hard time figuring out how to do that.

As a reader, I am rather character-driven. With Watched, I had so many characters to root for, worry about, and love like family! There is a lot of heart in this novel, even mixed in with all the trouble and conflict, that I couldn't help flying through it. I will be honest and say that sometimes the writing style made me stumble a bit when I was "flying through" the reading, but I was quickly able to pick myself back up and again get moving through the story just fine.

Watched is certainly an important novel, not just because it deals with overcoming religious profiling and social injustice, but because it teaches us to be our true selves. To follow our conscience, take care of our loved ones, stand up for what's right and good in this world, and that it is never too late to change. This novel is a wonderful character piece and I am so pleased I was able to get the chance to root wholeheartedly for Naeem and his family.

**The publisher sent me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, which I originally posted on my blog, She Dreams in Fiction.**

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark and redemptive.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Things get a little more complicated when you know somebody’s story.…It’s hard to fear someone, or be cruel to them, when you know their story.”

The majority of the 21.3 million refugees worldwide in 2016 were from Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia. The United States resettled 84,994 refugees. Together with immigrants, refugee children make up one in five children in the U.S. More than half the Syrian refugees who were resettled in the U.S. between October 2010 and November 2015 are under the age of 20.
.
In Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian, narrator Tom Bouchard is a high school senior. He is a soccer player, top of his class academically, and well-liked. He lives in Maine in a town that has become a secondary migration location for Somali refugees. These Somali students are trying to navigate high school without many benefits, including the English language. They face hostility from many of their fellow classmates and the townspeople, including the mayor; one teacher, at the request of students, permits only English to be spoken in her classroom. When four Somali boys join the soccer team, turning it into a winning team, and when he is forced to complete volunteer hours at the K Street Center where he tutors a young Somali boy and works with a female Somali classmate, Tom learns at least a part of their stories. Tom fights bigotry, especially that of his girlfriend—now ex-girlfriend, but he still doesn’t comprehend the complexity of the beliefs, customs, and traditions of his new friends and his actions have negative consequences for all involved. While trying to defend the truth, Tom learns a valuable lesson, “Truth is a difficult word. One person’s truth is another person’s falsehood. People believe what appears to be true and what they feel is true.”

I was teaching a unit on 9/11 a few weeks ago, and one of the 8th grade students said, “Why do we have to read about this? It is history; it’s over.” One continuing and even escalating consequence of the events of 9/11, especially on young people, is Islamophobia. A 2015 report by the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations found 50 percent of Muslim students surveyed were subjected to mean comments or rumors because of their religion. Students need to read novels, such as Out of Nowhere, Bifocal, The Lines We Cross, Watched, and Amina’s Voice, to know the storiess of many refugees, adolescent Muslim refugees in particular.

[Darcie Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Naeem is kind of a screw-up. Barely passing in school, disappointing his parents, he gets dirty looks from neighbors when he walks down the street and doesn't really have any friends. Except Ibrahim, if Naeem can really call him a friend. Naeem won't see Ibrahim for days then will get a text to meet him somewhere. It's always worth it, though, Ibrahim is always pulling pranks and doing something daring, which appeals to that side of Naeem that is looking for some risk-taking. He feels hemmed-in, his parents expect him to help at the store, his guidance counselor putting pressure on him at school, and law enforcement and who knows who else keeping surveillance on the Muslims in the community, people like Naeem and his family.

When Ibrahim asks Naeem to meet him at the mall, Naeem ditches work, lies to his parents that he is going to study, and dashes off to meet Ibrahim. Naeem knows Ibrahim is lying about needing a suit for graduation, but plays along as Ibrahim tries on suits and tells an even bigger lie to the clerk in the store. Naeem thinks it's all a prank, and plays along until he is grabbed by security as he is leaving the mall. Prank or not, Naeem is in some serious trouble and doesn't know what to do. Then he gets an offer from law enforcement that will basically let him off the hook, if he helps them gather information on the people in his community. He doesn't know which is worse, facing punishment for a crime or "selling out" and spying on his own people. The way Taylor, one of the cops, explains it, though, he'll actually be helping his community, helping to stop people who could hurt others. Taylor makes Naeem feel valued and needed in a way he has been aching for . He agrees to help, both because he really doesn't have any other choice, and because Taylor makes him feel important.

Taylor and Sanchez tell Naeem who to keep an eye on, and Naeem finds himself attending mosque for the first time in a long time, becoming active in a community group, and visiting more with the people in his neighborhood. As he does this, Naeem begins to feel more connected to his community, genuinely helping people, and feeling something in him change. He begins to value himself, to feel good about what he is doing. But he also begins to question the role he is playing in the surveilance of his community. When he is told to assist in bringing someone down, he finds that doing what is "right" is not always clear.

[Emma J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. This book was about a bond between two friends Naeem and Ibrahim who drifted apart. In this book it talks about terrariums and different cultures. Naeem gets asked to help with some police business but he can’t tell his family because they’d freak. Does Naeem help his ex friend when the police come around? Read Watched to find out!
I think someone who is into different culture and friendships might like this book because it talks a lot about Naeem’s culture and the lifestyle he lives. Someone who is into friendship might like this book because it’s about Naeem and Ibrahim drifting apart but soon realizing they missed each other.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, very well written (everything Budhos writes is written well, and well worth reading), with a great premise and from a perspective that is much-needed in the world of young adult literature. My only real gripe is that the ending was a little too easily resolved, and that the tension could have been ratcheted up a little higher.