Happy Sunday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for JASMINE ZUMIDEH NEEDS A WIN! I’m so excited because today I have an interview with Susan Azim Boyer to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I’m so excited to for you to find out more about it!
Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win by Susan Azim Boyer Published on November 1, 2022 by Wednesday Books
Genres: Historical Fiction, YA
Pages: 336
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram
It’s 1979, and Jasmine Zumideh is ready to get the heck out of her stale, Southern California suburb and into her dream school, NYU, where she’ll major in journalism and cover New York City’s exploding music scene.
There’s just one teeny problem: Due to a deadline snafu, she maaaaaaybe said she was Senior Class President-Elect on her application—before the election takes place. But honestly, she’s running against Gerald Thomas, a rigid rule-follower whose platform includes reinstating a dress code—there’s no way she can lose. And she better not, or she’ll never get into NYU.
But then, a real-life international incident turns the election upside down. Iran suddenly dominates the nightly news, and her opponent seizes the opportunity to stir up anti-Iranian hysteria at school and turn the electorate against her. Her brother, Ali, is no help. He’s become an outspoken advocate for Iran just as she’s trying to downplay her heritage.
Now, as the white lie she told snowballs into an avalanche, Jasmine is stuck between claiming her heritage or hiding it, standing by her outspoken brother or turning her back on him, winning the election or abandoning her dreams for good.
What would you do if you spent the day with Jasmine? Where would you go to eat, hang out, relax, etc.?
We would probably go to a festival concert like Coachella, where I live in the Coachella Valley, or Outside Lands in San Francisco, where I used to live! Jasmine loves music – in fact, she wants to write about it – and I do, too! Current favorites include Lizzo, Harry Styles, and Maren Morris.
If Jasmine were to hang out with other fictional characters, who would they be and why?
Jasmine would definitely hang out with Devi from the Netflix series Never Have I Ever! They are both disaster MCs, who are laser-focused on college admissions and make questionable choices to get into their top-choice schools.
If there was one fictional place you could travel to for a day, where would it be and why?
It would have to be Willy Wonka’s Factory – I am a chocolate fiend!
If you buried a time capsule with three items inside, what three items would you choose and why?
Probably my iPhone, a copy of Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win, and my wedding photo.
What was your favorite bit of research you ended up not using?
While the election for class president is in turmoil, Jasmine’s Auntie Minah – who is staying with Jasmine and her brother while their father travels – has an issue with her Green Card. I did a lot of research on the immigration process that I didn’t end up using.
What is your favorite quote, scene, or moment from Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win?
Jasmine tells a little, white lie that snowballs into an avalanche, and eventually everything catches up to her. This is that moment:
Between the dirty tricks and the cover-ups and the betrayal, I keep saying this is not me, I’m not like this. But I am. This is the person I’ve become in order to be the person I wanted to be. The question is, how do I get the old me back?
About Susan Azim Boyer
After obtaining a Certificate in Screenwriting from UCLA in the early aughts, I was accepted to the Sundance Producers Conference and went on to write and direct the independent feature, All You Need, starring two-time Academy Award nominee, Shirley Knight, which played on the festival circuit. After several “it’s my breakthrough!/oh no, it’s not my breakthrough” moments, I began writing young adult fiction featuring Iranian American heroines (I *never* encountered growing up), who make messy, complicated choices that rapidly snowball into avalanches. Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win is my young adult fiction debut. I was born in Nebraska, grew up in Los Angeles and lived in San Francisco for two years before spending the next fifteen in Sonoma County before moving to the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area with my husband, Wayne, and my Pug mix, Teddy. Our son, Alec, lives in New York.
What do you think about Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!
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