American Heart

A powerful and thought-provoking YA debut from New York Times bestselling author Laura Moriarty.

Imagine a United States in which registries and detainment camps for Muslim-Americans are a reality.

Fifteen-year-old Sarah-Mary Williams of Hannibal, Missouri, lives in this world, and though she has strong opinions on almost everything, she isn’t concerned with the internments because she doesn’t know any Muslims. She assumes that everything she reads and sees in the news is true, and that these plans are better for everyone’s safety.

But when she happens upon Sadaf, a Muslim fugitive determined to reach freedom in Canada, Sarah-Mary at first believes she must turn her in. But Sadaf challenges Sarah-Mary’s perceptions of right and wrong, and instead Sarah-Mary decides, with growing conviction, to do all she can to help Sadaf escape.

The two set off on a desperate journey, hitchhiking through the heart of an America that is at times courageous and kind, but always full of tension and danger for anyone deemed suspicious.

On a journey where every ride could be a trap and every stranger a threat, who can they really trust?

• An Unlikely Friendship: Sarah-Mary thought she knew who the enemy was. But when she meets Sadaf, a Muslim fugitive, she’s forced to question everything she believes to help a stranger escape to Canada.
• A High-Stakes Road Trip: Hitchhiking through the American heartland, the two girls must navigate a country full of both unexpected kindness and simmering danger, where being suspicious can be a death sentence.
• A Test of Conviction: Forced to confront her own prejudices, Sarah-Mary must decide between what’s easy and what’s right in a world where turning a blind eye is the safest choice.
• A Gripping Coming-of-Age Story: A powerful story about a fifteen-year-old girl finding her own moral compass in a nation that seems to have lost its way.