Moji is a young girl living in Tehran, Iran. She and her younger sister Mar Mar love spending time with their grandfather Agha Joon, listening to the fascinating stories in One Thousand and One Nights. But it is 1979, and Iran is on the brink of a tumultuous revolution to overthrow the monarchy. With her home and family in danger, Moji unknowingly views history in the making. A cultural and societal shift that will forever change their lives is underway. But with these changes, she also endures what her role as a girl means in post-revolution Iran. The House on Sun Street by Mojgan Ghazirad follows Moji’s experiences during this time. She witnesses how her family members react to the revolution and navigates milestones typical of a preteen girl. 

Readers meet Moji when she is six years old. At first, nothing about her and her family’s life seems out of the ordinary. She enjoys spending time at Agha Joon’s house, The House on Sun Street. She enjoys watching her teenage aunts use makeup and having a social life. She likes helping her mother and grandmother prepare traditional dishes for the rest of the family. And even though learning the Farsi alphabet is challenging, she rises to the occasion. Yet she overhears adults’ comments on the social unrest that will ultimately lead to the ousting of the last Shah of Iran. Her uncle Reza and aunts Saba and Leila participate in demonstrations, one of which the younger girls attend as well. But her father is a high-ranking officer for the monarchy, and is witnessing the situation becoming out of control. 

To his surprise, he is granted early retirement and accepted into the University of Alabama. So while the streets slowly become less safe, Moji’s family prepares to seek refuge in America. But they are Iranian refugees during the hostage crisis involving the Americans at the Embassy. They are not welcome with open arms, and face backlash from peers and neighbors. And when they move back to Iran after a few years, nothing about their homeland is the same. Iran is at war with Iraq, and soon the conflict will endanger them once again.

Most significantly for Moji and the women in her family, many harsh restrictions are put in place for them in the new Islamic Republic. Even so, Moji and Mar Mar continue their education where possible. Moji is eventually accepted into a prestigious yet indoctrinated school for girls. We see Moji navigate the drastic changes imposed on her – including what she is allowed to wear and the books she’s allowed to read. Even so, she finds comfort in her family, making sense of the stories in One Thousand and One Nights, and her life in The House on Sun Street. 

Ghazirad has obviously put much work in crafting Moji’s story in The House on Sun Street. Each chapter is prefaced with a passage from One Thousand and One Nights. This gives the reader context as to how that particular story might relate to what Moji is going through in that particular chapter, or what lesson is in store for her. She also impressively shapes the historical events and Iranian’s commentary through the eyes of a child, who has no idea what the revolution means for her as a girl. Then we watch Moji grow into a preteen and experience the new feelings that accompany the coming of age. Readers will empathize with what she is going through and their hearts will break with hers. 

Mojgan Ghazirad joins The Nerd Cantina Show podcast for a Cantina Conversation. She talks about how her own experiences as an Iranian native influenced Moji’s story and what she hopes readers take away from it. Keep an ear out for the upcoming episode and preorder The House on Sun Street, available October 3.