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A fresh spin on the cult-classic Election meets Darius the Great Is Not Okay in Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win when an international incident crashes into a high school election, and Jasmine is caught between doing the right thing and chasing her dream. It's 1979, and Jasmine Zumideh is ready to get the heck out of her stale, Southern California suburb and into her dream school, NYU, where she'll major in journalism and cover New York City's exploding music scene. There's just one teeny problem: Due to a deadline snafu, she maaaaaaybe said she was Senior Class President-Elect on her application--before the election takes place. But honestly, she's running against Gerald Thomas, a rigid rule-follower whose platform includes reinstating a dress code--there's no way she can lose. And she better not, or she'll never get into NYU. But then, a real-life international incident turns the election upside down. Iran suddenly dominates the nightly news, and her opponent seizes the opportunity to stir up anti-Iranian hysteria at school and turn the electorate against her. Her brother, Ali, is no help. He's become an outspoken advocate for Iran just as she's trying to downplay her heritage. Now, as the white lie she told snowballs into an avalanche, Jasmine is stuck between claiming her heritage or hiding it, standing by her outspoken brother or turning her back on him, winning the election or abandoning her dreams for good. Told with biting insight and fierce humor, Susan Azim Boyer's Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win is a fresh, unforgettable story of one Iranian-American young woman's experience navigating her identity, friendship, family, her future, and a budding romance, all set against life-changing historical events with present-day relevance."A clever and witty debut that made me laugh as much as it made me cry. Utterly fantastic." - Mason Deaver, award-winning author of I Wish You All the Best and The Ghosts We Keep
"This book is smart, it's funny, and there are hilarious Iranians throughout!" - Negin Farsad, Comedian/host of Fake the Nation podcast "Whip-smart, funny, and bursting with heart. Jasmine Zumedeh is exactly the kind of protagonist I want to spend pages with." --Jenn Bennett, author of Alex, Approximately "Debut author Susan Azim Boyer has written a coming-of-age novel that is smart, funny, and completely satisfying. Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win perfectly captures the tension and anxieties of trying to fit-in, of wanting to be seen while also trying to hide." --Matt Mendez, author of Barely Missing Everything and Twitching Heart