Imposter

by Bob Jonas

In a more tolerant world, Zane Walker’s charade would have been ignored. In Saudi Arabia, a sixteen year old boy masquerading as an online cleric cannot be ignored. In a media studies class he is taking at an international school, he is to create media personae, an online presence using social media. One student creates a new product. One creates a service. Another creates a non-profit to raise money and awareness. Zane Walker creates an international incident.
His interpretation of the assignment, because of its incendiary possibilities, was never to go live, like those of his classmates. Somehow, inexplicably, it does. He now has thousands of followers, thinking his fatwas-- religious edicts--are coming from a scholarly Muslim cleric. To many, he is leading a long overdue Islamic reformation.
When the religious police show up at his western compound with a decree to detain him, the only reformation they are interested in is his head on a plate. The truth of his efforts, that he was set up by a terrorist cell to foment discord between the United States and Saudi Arabia, may not be enough to quell the wrath of the religious establishment, the Royal family, and the worldwide condemnation for his disrespect.

327 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 10, 2015

About the author

Bob Jonas has been a school librarian for nineteen years-four in Beaverton, Oregon and seven in China -- Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong. In South America he worked for three years in Santiago, Chile, and then three years in the in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After retiring from his last post in Germany, on July 1, 2015, he will continue to write, visit schools, present at conferences, and use what he knows—which is a lot—to get kids excited about books, reading, and writing.

His travel and writing obsessions began after reading Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki-he was ten. His storytelling obsession began with his dad-the greatest tale teller, BS artiste, mesmerizer, and raconteur the younger Jonas would ever lean on for inspiration.

His first fifteen years of adulthood found him living the travel adventure in a semi-truck where he logged over a million miles in twelve western states. Unfortunately, the road stint lasted about twelve years too long. After too many speeding tickets, too many run-ins with angry weigh masters, bad, bad, and double bad winter weather, not to mention a real bad back, he knew it was time to find his old college degree and get himself somewhere else.

As a storyteller, writer, and librarian he has motivated, inspired, stimulated, stirred, cajoled, provoked, and done what was necessary to instill a love of reading in kids on fours continents.

ChinAlive, published in 2013, was his first YA novel. Imposter, a second YA novel, was published in 2015, followed by a sequel, Death Brew, just released March 26, 2017.

All his tales of travel and life as an international school librarian were published as a memoir, JUMP, in 2023, with his next YA novel, Ben's Story, is set to launch, March 1, 2024.

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished another amazing YA book by Bob Jonas. As I reported before, Bob and his wife Susan, have been teaching abroad as librarians in a variety of countries for the last 20 years. As a result, Bob has become well acclimated to the culture and practices of many diverse populations.

In this book, the young protagonist, Zane, is a student in Saudi Arabia. Zane and his sister Phoebe, are extremely upset when their teacher parents take a job abroad in Saudi Arabia. They spend the weeks before leaving doing a huge amount of research about the laws and customs of their new home, in order to dissuade their parents from leaving the US. In spite of this, they find themselves moving to an area with a totally alien and dangerous culture.

The family learns just how dangerous when they are moved, with no notice, to an underground bunker to hide from the Mutawa, a conservative extremist group. The group has discovered a blog Zane has written for one of his classes, and they are NOT amused. Hiding in the bunker, the family learn that Zane’s sister Phoebe, who had been staying with a school friend, has been kidnapped by the militants. They demand that Zane is exchanged for Phoebe or she will be killed. And so the flight begins.

I found this book as exciting as I did Bob’s first book, Chinalive. It was full of thrilling twists and turns, kidnapping, car chases, and torture.

Here is the prologue:
“A death chant drifts over the square, a requiem for a teenage about to die. The crowd in becoming more and more impatient. They are not in mourning. They are waiting to be entertained. When the music stops, the air goes still, and a decree is read. From his kneeling position, all the boy can is is the beheader’s feet, the tip of his sword and his worn-out sandals… The boy begins to shake when he hears the blade swing into an upright position…”

[Josefine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads giveaway. It was really good. It flashed me! It was so fast paced without leaving to much out. The characters where intestering and smart (maybe the twelf year olds were too smart). At the begining i feard that the kids would go on my nerves but that didn´t happen. It´s kind of a serious topic but the author was able to fit a special kind of humour in. At times i laught so loud people stared at me and than i was biteing my nails because everything was going wrong. Facts about the culture and the people are stown in.
To make it short... thank you for this wonderful book!

[Benjamin Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won through a Goodreads Giveaway.

I enjoyed reading this book, and it was entertaining throughout. The author is obviously familiar with his setting and characters (as someone who works at an international school in Saudi Arabia according to his bio) and has done his research. After the fact, there are a couple places where I wonder about the luck and skill the characters had in a few situations, but it all felt real while I was reading it. If you have any interest in realistic YA or in fiction set in the modern Middle East, I would definitely recommend this book.

[Denise]

Good story for kids. Very realistic and pertinent to today's climate. Shows the promise of youth to really look at the problems facing our world.

[Kristine Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book as part of a goodreads giveaway.

It was an entertaining read.