A very large expanse of sea6/27/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() She is bullied on a daily basis and there is no one she is close to who can relate. Two boys assaulted her in the days following the terrorist attack – and the police released them without repercussion. Shirin is miserable, isolated, and bitter because of her post 9/11 experiences. The BookĪ Very Large Expanse of Sea puts us into the mind of a 16-year-old Muslim girl, a year after the 9/11 attacks. Post 9/11, many Muslims in the United States experienced harassment and persecution (see the articles below) because of the rampant fear and distrust. ![]() Reading is an excellent way to gain compassion and empathy because you’re walking someone else’s story. It’s important to me to model for and instill in my teens a compassion and an empathy for others, regardless of any perceived differences. Understanding racism as a system we’re born into rather than an attitude held by a “bad person” (re: someone who wants to harm others because of their race) opens us to recognizing problematic racial patterns in ourselves. The Contextįear and mistrust might be knee-jerk reactions, but how we act and think afterward is our choice. Tahera Mafi’s A Very Large Expanse of Sea is a beautiful book, perfect for springboarding into meaningful conversations with your teens. ![]()
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