BOOK SUMMARY

What if you had to choose between the love of your life and your best friends?

Samantha Selim is a high school freshman finding her way. While she is a good girl by many standards, Sammy will test the boundaries drawn by her strict South Asian, immigrant father. Sometimes, she crosses these boundaries with the help of her American-born mother.

When she is asked out by a senior boy (and an ocean lifeguard at that), Sammy finds herself caught between what she should do versus what she could do. From date nights at the beach with her boyfriend to cat fights on the quad with her so-called “friends,” Sammy shares her unique perspective as she navigates high school life in the affluent beachside town in Newport Beach, California.

Ultimately, Sammy needs to figure out what she wants, and what she will sacrifice to get it. What will make her happy, she wonders. What will make the people she cares about – her parents, her new love, her friends – happy? Will she choose them, or will she choose herself?

BOOK DETAILS

Paperback

Young Adult, Fiction, Coming of Age, High School, Teen, Love, Lessons, Friendship

Part I of the If Water Were Fire Series

If Love Were Salt (Part II) and If Fear Were Fast (Part III) are also available.

Published in 2020 by The Peacock Pen Press in Newport Beach, CA

Copyright By Sara Salam

If Water Were Fire, A Novel by Sara Salam (Paperback)