“Boy meets girl. Girl changes everything.”
We’ve all read sappy romance novels where the girl meets the boy and both their lives change forever. So what makes this book different?
Well, firstly, it’s not a romance novel. Romance is only a subplot in a book with a much larger moral. Mina is an Afghani refugee who has escaped conflict in her home country to come live in Australia. Michael, on the other hand, is a born and raised Australian whose parents run an anti-refugee organisation. So when Mina moves schools on a scholarship and their paths cross, there’s quite a clash in personalities and backgrounds. They’re both are fascinated by each other, despite being unable to stand one another. But as they start spending more time with each other, they realise that they might be more similar than they had previously thought. Where Michael had once found his world to be black and white, Mina throws in a million shades of colour, and he learns that there’s another angle to his parents’ politics. Mina needs to protect her family from people like Michael – but how can she, when she realises how close they’ve become?
The Lines We Cross is a fast-paced novel about how discrimination in today’s world can change people’s lives, with a fresh new perspective and a powerful message that sheds light on Islamophobia and day-to-day prejudice that often goes unnoticed. Randa Abdel-Fattah, a contemporary Muslim writer, portrays the negative consequences of intolerance and hate in a society so largely diverse. As Mina and Michael both draw lines and cross them, they make decisions that will change themselves and the world around them, discovering that life isn’t all binary and that there are two sides to every story. While Michael learns tolerance and understanding, Mina understands the importance of having faith in people. Both fight their way past their differences, losing old friends and making new ones throughout their journeys.
Possibly the best thing about this book is its addressing and focus on current issues, putting us in someone else’s shoes and helping us to understand the cultural and political viewpoints of different people- in other words, empathising. Abdel-Fattah’s language is varied but colloquial, and the way the reader is able to empathise with the character is often a fault point in many other books. However, this is the perfect read for teenagers because the characters were created so artfully, but were still relatable and realistic. The Lines We Cross describes the struggle of over 60 million displaced people worldwide in the story of one Afghani refugee girl and one regular Australian boy. Two cultures, two religions, and two perspectives, all in one beautifully scripted book that is an absolute must-read for anyone over the age of 12.
To be absolutely honest, I’ve read and reread this book countless times and I have yet to get bored of it. I just find its style of writing so enjoyable: there’s nothing complicated or analytical about it. It simply tells the story and expresses the characters while still having been crafted carefully. It’s genuinely one of my personal favourite books ever and I’d definitely recommend it.
Happy reading!
