Street of Storytellers

by Doug Wilhelm

Overview

Notable Social Studies Trade Book, awarded by National Council for the Social Studies and The Children's Book Council

Gold Medal, Young Adult Fiction, Independent Press Awards

Silver Medal, Teen Fiction, Benjamin Franklin Awards, Independent Book Publishers Association

YA Fiction Book Award, Independent Book Publishers of New England

Indie Editors Choice, Kirkus Reviews

An American kid, in a place he doesn't understand.

This multicultural thriller for YA and adult readers is about three families across two cultures. It's about the power of music, the impacts of extremism, an ancient true story - and taking the risk, even when it's big, of thinking for yourself.

Luke blames his parents' divorce on his dad's obsession with finishing a book about a lost civilization in a dangerous part of Asia. But his father wants his son to understand, so during a school holiday he brings Luke to Peshawar, the legendary frontier city in northwest Pakistan. Luke refuses to learn anything about his dad's project; instead he's drawn into the strange, intriguing Old City, where a violent new extremism is on the rise. He's dazzled by a rebellious girl, Danisha, but they can't ever be seen together. He's recruited by her brother to assist the jihadis - but he also bonds with Yusuf, an Afghan refugee who knows what could happen. Then there are the musicians Luke befriends, and a warmhearted Sufi teacher who opens his eyes.

This is an adventure book that's about something. Once you start reading, it will grip you till the end.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578690213
Publisher:	Rootstock Publishing
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	230
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Doug Wilhelm is a full-time writer and editor in Weybridge, Vermont. His 16 published books for young readers includes "The Revealers" (FSG 2003, Macmillan/Square Fish '11), which has been the focus of reading-and-discussion projects in well over 1,000 middle schools and continues to be a perennial choice for grade-wide and all-school reads across the country. A production of the play version of The Revealers, by the National Children's Theatre of South Africa, was nominated for the 2015 Naledi Award-South Africa's top theatrical honor. Doug has visited over 100 schools across the U.S. His website, www.dougwilhelm.com, is a resource center for working with his novels.

Editorial Reviews

"Street of Storytellers is a storytelling delight, following the journey of a teenage American boy into the teeming bazaars of Pakistan and a world of musicians, refugees, scholars and the religious fanatics who will become the followers of Osama bin Laden. The story is rich in detail and suspense. Young Luke, resentful of his father's research project and unwilling to learn about the culture around him, ends up learning more than he could ever have expected."
-David Moats, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist

"Street of Storytellers is a vivid and layered novel of family angst, clashing cultures, navigating friendships, first love, and wisdom versus extremism amid frightening political and religious tensions in 1984 Pakistan -- as told by Luke, a 15-year-old American who did not want to be there. Wilhelm skillfully weaves history into dramatic youth fiction that is both a personal story and a perspective on world events today."
-Deborah Rodriguez, author of Kabul Beauty School and The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul

"Wilhelm, a former journalist who traveled to Pakistan to interview young people in the 1980s, offers an American teenager's perspective on a pivotal moment in modern world history. Main character Luke explores his own evolving thoughts about

"An entertaining, thoughtful look at a complicated historical, religious, artistic, and cultural crossroads."
-Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2019-12-28
In this YA thriller, an American teenager in Peshawar faces an ethical conundrum when he's recruited by jihadis to destroy his father's project.

It's December 1984, and Luke Sands, 15, is angry that because of his parents' recent divorce, he has to spend Christmas vacation with his father in Peshawar, the capital city of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. Professor Sands is so obsessed with writing a book about an ancient civilization in the Peshawar Valley that it broke apart his marriage, and Luke wants nothing to do with the project. Luke shuts down and refuses to go sightseeing, preferring to listen to Bob Marley on his Walkman. But when father and son reconnect with the Shaheens, a Pashtun family they'd known back home in Saratoga, New York, Luke is drawn to the rebelliousness of their son, Rasheed, or "Rashi," and to the beauty and intelligence of Rashi's younger sister, Danisha, "Dani." Although Luke makes a rash promise to help carry out a fatwa against his father's book, he also gains a new appreciation for Pakistan's rich cultural past when he's introduced to Pir Sahib, a wise Sufi teacher, and hears traditional music at the shrine of a Sufi poet. Meanwhile, Luke struggles with his feelings for Dani, because any interaction is forbidden in strict Pashtun culture. A dangerous culture clash brews that puts people, artifacts, and scholarship at risk. Wilhelm (Treasure Town, 2016, etc.), a prolific writer of middle school, YA, and Choose Your Own Adventure books, offers an absorbing, rich historical tale. The thriller educates readers about the mid-'80s forces that led up to 9/11, and Wilhelm also provides a useful historical afterword covering 1985 to the present day. An especially strong, moving, and well-described theme is the power of music to overcome barriers of many kinds while the book also honestly acknowledges limitations and challenges in fighting extremism. Luke is a believable character who makes mistakes but also redeems himself with courage and generosity.

An entertaining, thoughtful look at a complicated historical, religious, artistic, and cultural crossroads.

Kirkus Reviews