Like the author, the main character in the story is an immigrant from North Africa. Fifteen-year-old Doria lives in the sadly misnamed Paradise Estate on the outskirts of Paris. She is funny, clever a
He thought I'd forged my mom's name on the slip. How stupid is that? On this thing Mom just made a kind of squiggly shape on the page. That jerk didn't even think about what he was saying, didn't even
Ahleme lives on the outskirts of Paris, trying to make a life out of the dreams she brought with her from Algeria and the reality she faces every day. Her father lost his job after an accident at his
When Ahleme’s mother was killed in a village massacre, she left Algeria for France with her father and brother and never returned. Now, more than a decade later, she is practically French, yet in many
