A Very Large Expanse of Sea takes place just one year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Shirin, a Muslim teenager, faces discrimination from both her peers and teachers at school because of her religion. While this book is a work of fiction, this scenario was and still is a reality for many Muslims living in the United States. I appreciated the themes Mafi, the author, included in this story, but I did not think it was very well-written. I believe this title would be more appealing to tweens and younger teenagers as the characters come across as younger than their stated age. Overall, this book was just okay. I picked it up purely because I thought it would be a timely read, as this month marked the 20th anniversary of the tragedy this story follows.