American Fever is the debut novel by Dur E Aziz Amna. High school honor student Hira is chosen to live in America for an exchange year during high school. While other students get sent to New York or other East Coast locations, Hira lives with a single Mom and her teenage daughter in rural Oregon, and life couldn’t be more different than back home in Pakistan.

While Hira suffers through ignorance and racism about her culture religion, her own arrogance and judgement keeps her isolated from others. When she gets very sick near the end of her stay, things become even more difficult.

In this witty, coming of age story, Dur E Aziz Amna perfectly captures the conflicting emotions that accompany adolescence, and also those of the immigrant who both longs deeply for home and is so grateful to be away. I found myself rooting for Hira if not exactly liking her. A compelling read.