Scribd
Upload
34 views

Booktalk Script

This booktalk introduces the YA novel "If You Could Be Mine" by Sara Farizan, which was nominated for the 2016 Abraham Lincoln Award. The booktalk summarizes the novel's plot, which follows 17-year-old Sahar who must decide whether to risk her life for her love of her best friend Nasrin, as Nasrin's parents have arranged for her to marry a male doctor. The booktalk encourages listeners to read the book to find out Sahar's decision and discusses how the author wrote openly under her real name to help others in similar situations.

Uploaded by

Ricky Berdin Jr
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
34 views

Booktalk Script

This booktalk introduces the YA novel "If You Could Be Mine" by Sara Farizan, which was nominated for the 2016 Abraham Lincoln Award. The booktalk summarizes the novel's plot, which follows 17-year-old Sahar who must decide whether to risk her life for her love of her best friend Nasrin, as Nasrin's parents have arranged for her to marry a male doctor. The booktalk encourages listeners to read the book to find out Sahar's decision and discusses how the author wrote openly under her real name to help others in similar situations.

Uploaded by

Ricky Berdin Jr
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Jen Jacobs

LIS 516LE
Booktalk Script
Summer 2015

Introduction:

Hi, my name is Jen Jacobs (your high school librarian), and as a member of the Abraham

Lincoln Readers’ Choice Award nominating committee, I am excited to tell you about, If You

Could Be Mine: A Novel, written by Sara Farizan. It was chosen by high school students like

yourselves as a 2016 Abe Award nominee. This book has received many other honors and

awards, including a Lambda Literary Award, and it was also chosen as a Best YA novel by

Rolling Stone magazine. I read this emotionally packed contemporary realistic fiction book in

one afternoon. Let me tell you some more about why you won’t be able to put this book down…

Booktalk:

Would you risk your life for love? Seventeen-year-old Sahar must answer this question when the

parents of her best friend and true love, Nasrin, arrange for her to be married to a male doctor in

his thirties. Sahar doesn’t know what to do. It is illegal for two women to get married in Iran, and

she and Nasrin could be killed for loving each other. If that isn’t bad enough, her father has

become more and more depressed since her mother died, and she spends most of her time taking

care of him. Sahar dreams of becoming a doctor herself, but will her test scores be high enough

to make it into a university? Ali—Sahar’s cousin—invites her to a party, and she meets his

friend Parveen, who used to be known as Ahmad. Parveen tells Sahar about the gender

reassignment surgery she went through. The surgery is legal and often paid for by the Iranian
government. Will the following argument with Nasrin convince Sahar that gender reassignment

is the only way they can stay together?

“Sahar! What did you expect? I’m not going to be anything other than someone’s wife! It’s

what my mother has been grooming me for. How was I supposed to be anything other than what

she wants me to be?”

“We could have talked about it before you decided to go through with it!’

“This was always going to happen, Sahar. What could you have done to change it?”

“What could I have done to change it? There’s nothing I can do. I have no resources, no plan

of attack I’m just a girl. A girl. If only I were a man. A man with a hairy face who could slouch

his shoulders if he wanted to and walk around with short sleeves in the hot sun. If only…

“How many months until the wedding?” I ask her.

“Three. Why?” I kiss her with ferocity, and this time it is she who is struck dumb.

“I’m going to find a way.” I make sure she understands that I am serious. I can tell that I am

scaring her a little bit, but she kisses me and it is all the confirmation I need (Farizan, 2013, p.

68).

To find out what Sahar decides, read If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan—available in

paperback and hardcover on the 2016 Abe Lincoln Readers’ Choice Award bookshelf and in

ebook format on OverDrive. Sara Farizan originally considered writing this novel under a pen

name; however, she decided to go with her real name with the hope of “helping one family or

one parent or one kid who’s perhaps going through a similar thing (NPR, 2015).” If you like this

book, you should check out Sara Farizan’s latest book, Tell Me How A Crush Should Feel, and

2
other Abe nominees, such as Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe, or past Abe contenders

like Winger. I am Jen Jacobs, and thanks for listening to my booktalk on If You Could Be Mine—

I hope you enjoyed it! See you in the Information and Learning Center (ILC) soon!

Booktalk Presentation/Bookmark References

Amazon.com, Inc. (2015). If you could be mine: A novel. Retrieved from Amazon.com.

Farizan, S. (2013). If you could be mine: A novel. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Young Readers.

Farizan, S. (2014). Tell me again how a crush should feel: A novel. Chapel Hill, NC:

Algonquin Young Readers.

Goodreads Inc. (2015). If you could be mine by Sara Farizan. Retrieved from

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20312474-if-you-could-be-mine

Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA). (2015). The Abraham Lincoln Award:

Illinois’ Grades 9-12 Readers’ Choice Award. Retrieved from https://www.islma.org/

lincoln.htm

NPR. (2015). ‘Be mine’: Love and identity tangled in Tehran. Retrieved from http://

www.npr.org /2013/09/07/218643690/be-mine-love-and-identity-tangled-in-tehran

Sáenz, B. A. (2012). Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe. New York:

Simon & Schuster BFYR.

Smith, A. & Bosma, S. (2013). Winger. New York: Simon & Schuster BFYR.

3
Catalogs Used:

Adlai E. Stevenson High School. Retrieved from: https://d125.follettdestiny.com/cataloging/

servlet/presentadvancedsearchredirectorform.do?l2m=Library%20Search

*I envisioned the Information Learning Center (ILC) at Stevenson High School while creating

this booktalk.

Indian Trails Public Library. Retrieved from: http://itpld.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/

*Photo image of Abe Award -Retrieved from Google Images via

http://annettesbookspot.blogspot.com/ 2015/03/2016-illinois-teen-readers-choice-award.html

You might also like