What do You think about Towelhead (2006)?
I really liked this and I read it in one day because I couldn't put it down...I even missed Project Runway. Anyhow, it's not for everyone which is why I gave it 4 not 5 stars. It's from the perspective of a 13 year old girl who is sexually abused/confused by all the people who are supposed to be taking care of her. However she is very clever and there's a lot of dark humor in it so it's not terribly depressing really. There is sex on every page, I thought it was an accurate portrayal of hormone ridden teenage thoughts as well as the thoughts of an abused person. They are making this into a movie soon and it is being compared to American Beauty and that is why I read it.
—Anina
As posted in [http://www.amazon.com]:Wow! I'm not sure if I'm supposed to like the book because of the style of writing and the bold approach of a topic or if I'm supposed to hate it because of a sensitive topic. I can say one thing...that Erian didn't hold back her creative juices. It's so good I thought that it was actually a memoir. Feeling threatened by her daughter, especially when her boyfriend spills a revelation, thirteen-year-old Jasira is sent to live with her Lebanese father in Houston. Prior to this, Jasira's relationship with her father was practically non-existent. Both father and daughter try to make the best of the new living situation. *Towelhead* is a book of contraditions, especially Jasira. Jasira, as a young girl, is naive to the things of the world and the desires of men. At the same time, Jasira knows what she wants, which is love and acceptance and she'll get it from anyone, whether it be from her father, her hunky married neighbor, her boyfriend or her other neighbor who is pregnant. Confused yet eager, she choses to seek the company and attention of her hunky neighbor. This is where readers may be turned off and stop reading or cautiously continue. I can say that this is not easy reading not only because of the sexual nature but because of the eventual eruption of emotions and reactions to this incident. You'll not only read their emotions but you'll feel emotional. You'll be angry at Jasira's mom for her ultimatums and blind devotion to her boyfriends. You'll react in shock to her father's discpline. You'll bite your nails while Jasira's boyfriend pressures her to do things. You'll want to slap the neighbor's kid and his "get-away-with-murder" antics. Just read the book.
—LARRY
It's funny how you can dislike a book so much while at the same time begrudgingly admitting that it was well-written and discusses important topics. I disliked the main character at first as a result of my own shortcomings: I was judging her self-destructive behavior from the position of a well-adjusted adult, which Jasira is neither adult nor well-adjusted. Every bad decision this child makes is a result of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of the adults around her. She literally doesn't know what real love, or more appropriate for her age, real affection, should feel like. The book is addicting, flows smoothly, the characters are exceptionally well-developed and the plot moves neither too fast nor too slow; my only issue is the overwhelming amount of graphic sex, because it involves children, and (it should go without saying) the exploitation of children. It's not enjoyable, period, in my opinion. But it is an absolute feast for thought, and for that reason I would actually recommend it.
—Mary Myers
