Rooftops of Tehran 

by Mahbod Seraji  

            Reviewed by 

Emma Erwin

Rooftops of Tehran is a young adult fiction novel written by Mahbod Seraji that tells the story of 17-year-old Pasha who lives in the Iranian city of Tehran in the summer of 1973 with his mother, father, and his best friend, Ahmed. The city is going through trying times, and the citizens resent the controlling government and the SAVAK, a political organization that threatens to destroy any freedom of the people. While the story is about the struggle of the community, it focuses on the relationship of Pasha and, literally, the girl next door with whom he falls in love, Zari. The novel is a love story, but it is also so much more than that. It is the story of political rebellion of an oppressed people, and it is the coming of age of a young man.

The novel was also very interesting to read because it takes place in an Iranian city. The culture there is very different than ours in America, but the novel shows that the emotions, the relationships, and the struggles experienced by the characters are very similar to those of American teenagers today. I could not have read the novel at a more poignant time, as we as Americans may feel that after the recent bombings in Boston, our culture is isolated from the world and that we are very different from the rest of the world. The novel offers a unique perspective of the universality of teenage experiences of young love, friendship, family, and rebellion.

Overall, I found the book to be a good read. I got through it very quickly, and I found myself very attached to the characters by the end of the book. I enjoyed the author's style of writing, and the descriptions of the city and the environment made me feel like I was right next to Pasha in the colorful alley by his house. The book was not corny in the slightest, and it did not paint an unrealistic picture of romance or a glorified view of a struggling community. The novel has become a personal favorite of mine, and I would highly recommend it. I give it an A+.