It Ain't So Awful Falafel Summary
Firoozeh Dumas

It Ain't So Awful Falafel Overview

It Ain't So Awful Falafel, by Firoozeh Dumas, is a coming of age story for the middle school audience. Zomorod Yousefzadeh was born in Iran, but her family has been living in America for a couple of years when the Iranian hostage crisis takes place. Though Zomorod has established some friendships by this point, her family faces hostility from some people who blame them for rising gas prices and the hostage crisis. The blame is based on the family's Iranian ethnicity. As Zomorod and her family struggle to understand what is happening in their native country, they face the very real possibility that they will have to return there because of the prejudice that exists against all Iranians in America. The novel's main themes are coming of age, prejudice, and kindness.