YA Spotlight & #Giveaway – Just A Hat by S. Khubiar
JUST A HAT
By Shanah Khubiar
Young Adult / Coming of Age / Jewish Fiction / Small-Town Texas / 1970s
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Page Count: 254
Publication Date: July 18, 2023
Scroll down for giveaway!
Action-packed, humorous, and bittersweet, this 1970s-era coming-of-age novel is more relevant than ever–exploring how a second-generation immigrant kid in a new hometown must navigate bullying, unexpected friendships, and the struggle of keeping both feet firmly planted in two very different cultures.
It’s 1979, and thirteen-year-old Joseph Nissan can’t help but notice that small-town Texas has something in common with Revolution-era Iran: an absence of fellow Jews. And in such a small town it seems obvious that a brown kid like him was bound to make friends with Latinos–which is a plus, since his new buds, the Ybarra twins, have his back. But when the Iran hostage crisis, two neighborhood bullies, and the local reverend’s beautiful daughter put him in all sorts of danger, Joseph must find new ways to cope at home and at school.
As he struggles to trust others and stay true to himself, a fiercely guarded family secret keeps his father at a distance, and even his piano teacher, Miss Eleanor–who is like a grandmother to him–can’t always protect him. But Joseph is not alone, and with a little help from his friends, he finds the courage to confront his fears and discovers he can inspire others to find their courage, too.
Just a Hat is an authentically one-of-a-kind YA debut that fuses the humor of Firoozeh Dumas’s Funny in Farsi with the poignancy of Daniel Nayeri’s Everything Sad Is Untrue.
Amazon│Blackstone Publishing
Download A Free Educator’s Guide
Shanah Khubiar is a retired law enforcement officer, and she is now self-employed as a subject matter specialist. She holds a BS and MEd in education from East Texas State University and a PhD in philosophy. A student of her Persian ancestry, she incorporates (Mizrachi) Middle Eastern Jewry into her fiction, examining the historical challenges and triumphs of a different culture and narrative than what usually appears in literature. Khubiar is a sometime resident and always fan of most things Texas.
Website ◆ Goodreads ◆ Amazon ◆ BookBub
X (Twitter) ◆ Blackstone Publishing
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
THREE WINNERS:
Signed hardback copy of JUST A HAT
(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 5/9/24)
Visit the Lone Star Literary Life Tour Page
For direct links to each blog participating in this book blitz!
blog tour services provided by
Kristine Anne Hall
Thanks for sharing this book — I just finished reading with my ears, and I think it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. Every young reader needs it.