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As her senior year in high school approaches, Mina yearns to find her own path in life but working at the family business, taking care of her little sister, and dealing with her mother's impossible expectations are stifling.
She walks alone in the rain. The faded pink pajama bottoms and oversized T-shirt clinging to her small frame, heavy with the weight of water. Her breath breaks inside her chest in an upward heave that strangles a cry escaping from her throat. Gulps of air. Her shoulders rising and falling. How much time has passed? She presses the heel of her hand against the tears that blur her vision. Though her chest still throbs, demanding air, she begins to run again. Looks down at her feet and urges them to fly faster, skim across the pavement.
The city, a dusty camouflage of grays punctuated with dots of colors from traffic lights and swirling neon signs, stretches awake in the early-morning drizzle. In the distance there is the slam of metal gates being pushed aside, revealing cluttered storefronts and display windows. The heartbeat of the city thickens with the heat of summer rising as steam from the streets, with the noise of cars speeding across the freeway, with the multitude of voices and languages rising up to greet each other. The day begins, yet all Suna can see is the memory of a face framed by night. A face so familiar, so loved, she can name each imperfection, each mark as though they are her own.
Suna runs forward without a glance, without a thought. To the car rounding the curve of the freeway off-ramp. The road slick with oil and rain. She pumps her arms and wills herself into the light.
I started thinking about writing for children after I had finished college and was teaching full time. However, it wasn't until I entered my MFA program that the real writing began.
What made you decide to write this book?
It started with a very visual image of Mina and Ysrael on the hood of the car looking out over the sunset. While the image of the two lovers was familiar what caught my attention was the thought of the younger sister, Suna, inside the car watching her older sister fall in love.
What would you like young readers to learn from Mina?
To know and believe in yourself.
Are any of the characters in Wait for Me? based on anyone in your "real" life?
Some of the characters are composites from many different people, both real and fictional.
What adjectives would you use to describe Wait for Me?
Tender, loving.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Ian McEwan, Sylvia Plath, Jacqueline Woodson, Kazuo Ishiguro, Lorrie Moore, Lois Lowry
Have you started working on your next book? Can you give us a sneak peak?
I'm currently at work on my third novel, but I don't like to talk about it until it's completely done.
Is there anything else you'd like to tell readers?
Thank you for listening to my stories.
Overview
As her senior year in high school approaches, Mina yearns to find her own path in life but working at the family business, taking care of her little sister, and dealing with her mother's impossible expectations are stifling.