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Street of Storytellers

Gold medal, YA fiction, 2020 Independent Press Awards

Silver medal, teen fiction, 2020 Benjamin Franklin Awards

Winner, young adult books, 2019 Independent Publishers of New England Book Awards

Kirkus Reviews "Editors' Choice"

This multicultural thriller, set at a pivotal time and place in recent world history, is about three families across two cultures. It's about an ancient true story the world has almost forgotten. And it's about learning to think for yourself — even if that puts your life at risk.

In Street of Storytellers, a teenager who's passionate about rock music angrily blames his parents' divorce on his dad's obsession with finishing a book about a lost civilization in Pakistan's dangerous, legendary Northwest Frontier. But over Christmas vacation, wanting his son to understand, Luke's dad brings him to Peshawar, the age-old crossroads city near the Afghan border. Luke refuses to visit the ruins or learn anything about the project ... instead he is drawn into the strange, intriguing Old City, where a violent new extremism is on the rise. This is December 1984.

Luke is dazzled by the beautiful Danisha — but if they're ever seen together, she could be killed. He's recruited by a group of jihadis — but he also bonds with Yusuf, an Afghan refugee who knows what could happen. Then there are the musicians Luke befriends, and a mysterious Sufi teacher who opens his eyes.

This is Doug Wilhelm's 17th book. His acclaimed novel The Revealers has been the focus of reading-and-discussion projects in over 1,000 American schools.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 230
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781578690169
  • Release date
  • 2019