People of the Book by Kathi Macias

Farah is a young Muslim woman in Saudi Arabia. During the month of Ramadan she has committed to deepening her devotion to Allah. She fasts and prays and is dismayed when she does not feel any closer to Allah. Then one night she has a dream and Isa, the prophet Jesus appears to her. He says he is there to draw her to him. She is puzzled by the experience.

Nura is Farah's cousin. Unlike many other young Muslim women, Nura's father allows her unlimited access to the Internet. She begins to frequent a chat room in which Muslims discuss Jesus. There she meets Sara, a young woman in the United States. While Sara is of Muslim descent, she is now a Christian.
But Sara has her own problems. Her brother Emir has been shot in a gang incident and is near death. He is in rebellion to God. Sara and her parents are concerned about his salvation.
Nura and Farah become believers in Isa (Jesus) but their new found faith is discovered. The consequences are deadly.
Macias has woven an interesting story around Islam and Christianity. One learns much about what it means to be a Christian in a country where such belief is forbidden.

I love it when an author writes about the Pacific Northwest in a way that rings true: “There was a hint of moisture surrounding them, but scarcely enough to be noticeable to two teen aged girls who had been raised in the Pacific Northwest. Rain was simply a way of life, and unless it came as a deluge, they seldom even bothered with umbrellas.” (58)

I received and advanced copy of this book in egalley form from New Hope Publisher for the purpose of this review.

Author's website: http://www.kathimacias.com/

Author's blog and a trailer on the book: http://kathieasywritermacias.blogspot.com/2011/01/people-of-book-is-almost-here.html 
 
New Hope Publishers, 318 pages.