Neda Alaei

This Isn’t Us

A painfully realistic novel about young people who have to take care of themselves when their parents aren’t able to be parents. It’s a story about neglect, but one in which for once we see a support system that works.

It’s almost a year since mum died. At home, Sanna has to look after dad, but all he wants to do is sleep and write. He almost never eats and he barely even looks at her. Things haven’t been much better at school since her best friend stopped speaking to her.
Then Yousef joins the class. He shows her how to take pictures and to see the world in a whole new way. He, too, has more responsibility than a teenager should have, and Sanna has finally found someone who understands her. But can she trust him, or is he just like all the others?