"I want to grow up" Did you say it when you were a kid? I know I did. Have you regretted growing up at some point in your life? Have you wished you could be a careless child once again? I know you have. Everyone has. The more you grow the bigger the challenges, the obstacles, the pain. Life gets serious. You get serious. You forget to smile at the morning sun shining down your face. You are too absorved by your problems to notice the beautiful world surrounding you. And when life gets hard, you wish more than anything to turn back in time and be that small child who did not know anything when he said "I want to grow up"

Daleela is fifteen, hormonal, and all around your average teenage Muslim girl. Well, you know, if being a Muslim girl in America is what you call average to start with. She has a quick temper, an overly soft heart, and to add to that she's constantly fighting to do the right thing. But what happens when choosing to do the right thing is suddenly a much harder decision to make? When she and her family move away from the homey state of Virginia to the bustling city of New York, her life takes an abrupt turn at the very corner of crazy-ville. How is she going to handle her first year in public school as the only visible Muslim in sight? Not to mention the fact that she's forced to be locker buddies with a completely bipolar psychopath that seems to hold the key to a murky past not even he knows the whole truth of. Daleela will face it all; a journey full of love, mistakes, discrimination, and maybe a few unplanned adventures. Although she's always been a true fighter, how will she handle everything that is happening without losing sight of what's truly important to her? Will she be able to juggle keeping up with her family and protecting her modesty while still maintaining a firm grip on her faith? What will happen when one girl has to fight for the respect of so many and prove herself to everyone looking down on her? Well, you'll have to take a dive into her world and find out for yourself... © 2012-2021 JAMEELAH LATHAM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED