A Hundred Other Girls

DEBUT Crashing on her sister’s couch, 22-year-old Noora spends her days updating her blog and tutoring rich teens while she works toward her goal of becoming a writer. When she secures a job as the assistant to the editor in chief of New York City’s Vinyl, her favorite culture magazine, she thinks she’s finally on the right track. But Noora’s childhood icon turns out to be demanding, Vinyl is being yanked back and forth by warring digital and print departments, and, to make matters worse, Noora has an unfortunate crush on the magazine’s IT guy. Caught in the middle of a corporate tug-of-war, she’s forced to question her morals and sense of self. Noora is a perfectly flawed, expertly crafted protagonist, and a highlight of her character arc are the explorations of her Iranian American identity and of the meaning of family. The distinct and vivid narration, especially the electrifying descriptions of NYC, makes this debut engaging.