Just Another Epic Love Poem

Gr 9 Up–Mitra, an Iranian American teen living in Bellevue, WA, with her dad and sister, is surviving life one day at a time. With her dad’s parting words of, “Make it the best day of your life,” Mitra starts anew, sitting in a Catholic school, the daughter of a Muslim, reeling with imposter syndrome. When fate throws a curveball Mitra’s way in the shape of a spit ball, she embarks on a journey of truth, love, and forgiveness beginning with Bea Ortega, her newfound friend. Bea becomes Mitra’s one constant in life as she struggles to deal with the effects of her mother’s addiction struggles on her family. Mitra embraces writing to make sense of the world she now lives in. Poetry becomes the thread that binds the girls amongst the fear, feelings of inadequacy, family, and forgiveness that serve as rites of passage to coming of age in this tenderly written novel. Bea and Mitra’s journey from friendship to more unfolds through the awkwardness of learning to love and trust amidst spatters of notes, chats, and heartfelt lyrical prose. Akhbari’s experience as a mental health therapist by day and a writer by night is the avenue through which these words come alive.