{"product_id":"dancing-in-the-mosque-an-afghan-mothers-letter-to-her-son-isbn-9780062970312","title":"Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother's Letter to Her Son","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003ePeople\u003c\/em\u003e Book of the Week \u0026amp; a \u003cem\u003eKirkus\u003c\/em\u003e Best Nonfiction of the Year\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn exquisite and inspiring memoir about one mother’s unimaginable choice in the face of oppression and abuse in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the days before Homeira Qaderi gave\u003cbr\u003ebirth to her son, Siawash, the road to the hospital in Kabul would often be\u003cbr\u003ebarricaded because of the frequent suicide explosions. With the city and the military on\u003cbr\u003eedge, it was not uncommon for an armed soldier to point his gun at the pregnant woman’s\u003cbr\u003ebulging stomach, terrified that she was hiding a bomb. Frightened and in\u003cbr\u003epain, she was once forced\u003cbr\u003eto make her way on foot. Propelled by the love she held for her soon-to-be-born\u003cbr\u003echild, Homeira walked through blood and wreckage to reach the hospital doors.\u003cbr\u003eBut the joy of her beautiful son’s birth was soon overshadowed by other dangers\u003cbr\u003ethat would threaten her life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo ordinary Afghan woman, Homeira refused\u003cbr\u003eto cower under the strictures of a misogynistic social order. Defying the law,\u003cbr\u003eshe risked her freedom to teach children reading and writing and fought for\u003cbr\u003ewomen’s rights in her theocratic and patriarchal society.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDevastating in its power, \u003cem\u003eDancing in the Mosque\u003c\/em\u003e is a mother’s searing letter to a son she was forced to leave behind. In telling her story—and that of Afghan women—Homeira challenges you to reconsider the meaning of motherhood, sacrifice, and survival. Her story asks you to consider the lengths you would go to protect yourself, your family, and your dignity.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"A heartrending, indelible tale.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A stunning reminder that stories and words are what sustain us, even—and perhaps especially—under the most frightening circumstances.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“How does a girl grow to be a woman in a society that shuts off every opportunity? How does a mother choose between her child and the future, not just\u003cem\u003e her\u003c\/em\u003e future but that of the women of Afghanistan? Homeira Qaderi answers these impossible questions in her stunning memoir, \u003cem\u003eDancing \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003ein the Mosque\u003c\/em\u003e—one of the most moving love letters to life itself that you will ever read.”  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMeg Waite Clayton, author of The Last Train to London\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A modern-day \u003cem\u003eSophie's Choice\u003c\/em\u003e, this memoir about a mother's love for her child and country is heartbreaking, but also triumphantly hopeful and inspiring. Thank God for courageous women like Homeira Qaderi.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThrity Umrigar, bestselling author of The Secrets Between Us\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Dancing in the Mosque \u003c\/em\u003eis a remarkable story of great strength, perseverance, and personal sacrifice by a woman selflessly working to advance the rights of women in her homeland of Afghanistan, women and girls who yearn to be free. I so admire Homeira Qaderi's writing, but even more her courage.  I wept when I read the words, \" in this land, it is better to be a stone than a girl.\" Thank you, Homeira, for telling a story that everyone needs to read.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDeborah Rodriquez, author of New York Times bestseller The Kabul Beauty School and Little Coffee Shop in Kabul\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“'God never answers the prayers of girls,' the Afghan writer Homeira Qaderi was told when the Taliban invaded her native city of Herat. But her new book, \u003cem\u003eDancing in the Mosque\u003c\/em\u003e, is a kind of answered prayer born of her courage, indomitable will, and storytelling gifts. In this remarkable blend of memoir and anguished letter in exile to a son she cannot see, Qaderi reminds us that the pen is mightier than the sword, especially when it is in the hands of a writer who invites her readers to dance in the mosque.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristopher Merrill, author of Self-Portrait with Dogwood\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An unvarnished, memorable portrayal of a mother’s grief and love.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews (starred review) Best of the year 2020, Nonfiction\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889367085285,"sku":"NP9780062970312","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062970312.jpg?v=1730231092","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/dancing-in-the-mosque-an-afghan-mothers-letter-to-her-son-isbn-9780062970312","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}