A Place For Us

 Fatima Mirza wrote the family saga called A Place For Us. The family consists of Rafik and Layla who emigrated from India to California and their three children, Hadia, Huda and Amar. Rafik is a strict parent with a temper that flares up at his children. Both he and Layla are devout Muslims. Since they have no other family in the United States, the other people at the mosque are the only people they socialize with. Hadia is a good student and she tries hard to please her parents up to a point. While her parents would prefer she accept an arranged marriage at age 18 she declines and goes off to medical school. Huda is also a good student. Like her older sister she declines an arranged marriage and goes to college to become a teacher. She appears to be the most well adjusted member of the family. Amar, the youngest and only son seems to me to have oppositional defiant disorder. He is reluctant to change his ways and his father is reluctant to change his ways so they keep repeating the same behavior over and over without making any progress.  Eventually Amar leaves the family. The last quarter of the book is told by Rafik as if he were talking to Amar. Now Rafik is willing to change his parenting style for his only son. I really enjoyed getting this glimpse into a different culture.