Light Me a Candle (Novel for Young Adults)

This is Maryam Mohammadkhani’s second novel. She was born in 1987 in Tehran. She has a Masters in Farsi Literature and she teaches in high school. She is also the editor of Pazhuheshnameh Quarterly, the only specialized magazine on Children’s and Young Adults’ Literature in Iran and a jury member in The Flying Turtle Award.

Mohammadkhani in her second novel, narrates the life and passions of a twelve-year-old girl. Her name is Sarah and she currently lives with his father. Through the course of the story, we learn that she is looking for her uncle, whose picture she has seen before. She found a man on Instagram, who fits his uncle’s description. She starts emailing him back and forth, and although the stranger refuses to reply at the beginning, Sarah’s wit, honesty, and hardship in life compels him to write back. We grasp few glimpse of Sarah’s despair: her mother has been brain dead and her best friend has moved out of their building. She is alone during the day and her relationship with his grieving father is deteriorating. She tries to run away from home, and add to that her stalker, who bothers her on her way home from school.

One of the best, yet surprising qualities of the title, is author’s dexterity over teenage vocabulary and pre-occupations. The believable factor of Sarah’s character and how she articulates her concerns, her wishes, and her yearning are definitely, among the reasons for the book’s bright future. Maryam Mohammadkhani has found the proper tone to write about a teenage girl, about her sorrows and fear, hopes and dreams.

Tonight Dad came earlier and he hugged me a bit. I was sitting in front of the TV and was doing my Biology homework. My mom hated it, she used to say I should do my homework at my desk, not the TV. But Dad didn’t complain. He did not care. As I was looking down, he stroked my hair. I wanted to cry. I didn’t.