We Are All We Have

By: Marina Budhos

Narrated by: Farah Merani

When a teenage girl’s single mom is taken by ICE, everything changes—all of her hopes and dreams for the future have turned into survival.

Seventeen-year-old Rania is shaken awake in her family's apartment in Brooklyn. ICE is at the door, taking her mother away. But Ammi has
This was supposed to be Rania’s greatest summer: hanging out with her best friend, Fatima, and getting ready for college in the fall.

But it’s 2019, and nothing is certain.

Now, along with her younger brother, Kamal, and a new friend, Carlos, Rania must figure out how to survive. A road trip leads to searching for answers to questions she didn’t even think to ask.

In this vivid exploration of what happens when the country you have put your hopes into is fast shutting down, award-winning author Marina Budhos shows us how one girl bursting with dreams navigates secrets, love, and the lure of the open road.

Critic reviews

★ "A triumphant tale about finding home." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "Budhos weaves a rich tapestry of words that navigates a yearning for acceptance, love, and the unerring need for freedom." —Booklist, starred review

"The tightly wound plot creates an underlying tension as the young characters’ situations constantly unravel." —The Horn Book

"[A] hopeful tale with a large cast of kind-hearted characters, whose boundless compassion for Rania and Kamal, and sense of helplessness in the face of an unfair and impossible government system, is palpable." —Publishers Weekly