Afsaneh Sanei – illustratör

A savvy little girl explains how to survive a huge family party—especially the never-ending goodbye at the end—in this cheeky and charming picture book celebration of Middle Eastern culture.What happens when you’re invited to a Middle Eastern party? A LOT! Which is why your good friend Salwa will show how to make the most of every minute and navigate those tricky parts, step by step, from the joyful Salam! when you arrive until the longest goodbye in the history of goodbyes when you’re ready to leave.

FOUR STARRED REVIEWS! • From the award-winning author of Town Is by the Sea comes a beautiful and meditative story about seeing the world around you in a new way.A girl wakes up from a dream she can't shake.Her head is full of clouds.When she goes outside, the things she normally doesn't pay much attention to suddenly reveal their beauty: the plants growing in the cracks of the sidewalk, the shimmering puddles, the notes from a violin drifting in the air. She revels in this strangeness of the familiar, and eventually her dream comes back to her in all its surrealness.When she meets a friend, she feels solid and connected again, part of the world — but she doesn't lose the gifts that this strange morning gave her: the quietly profound wonder of the everyday and the joy of being present.Joanne Schwartz's lyrical text and Afsaneh Sanei's gorgeous art are a dreamy pairing that will reward readers with something special in every read.