Watched Audiobook

Quotes

• “Sunil Malhotra’s first-person narration…conveys the paranoia of Naeem…[and] fleshes out Naeem’s fear, frustration, and anger…Malhotra sets the emotional tone so clearly that listeners understand why Naeem takes risks in this dangerous relationship…Malhotra sensitively portrays his increasingly conflicted feelings and difficult decision.”

  — AudioFile

• Budhos perfectly captures the gritty details of daily life in a Queens neighborhood, as well as the nuances of different immigrant groups.

  — SLJ, Starred review

• A compelling coming-of-age story, and even readers who choose to downplay the current events threads will find Naeem's strange path to reconnection with his family rewarding.

  — The Bulletin

• Beautiful and intelligent...It brings to chilling life the corrupting effects of official surveillance – for both watched and watchers...No one who reads WATCHED– young or old – will come away without empathy and compassion for the thousands of ‘Naeems’ now residing in this nation.

  — Patricia McCormick, author of SOLD 

• Watched will pull you into its world with magnetic, graceful power, and deeply touching scenes of immigrant life and relationships. A hauntingly perfect, potent story for this moment.

  — Naomi Shihab Nye, author of Habibi 

• “I loved this book, a tense, realistic thriller set right now in a time of homeland insecurity.

  — Robert Lipsyte, author of The Contender 

• Riveting…Naeem is a wonderful character, full of heart, conflicted, negotiating his own gorgeously, grittily depicted multicultural neighborhood..

  — Tanuja Desai Hidier, author of Born Confused 

• Watched  reveals profound immigrant truths about survival and betrayal, and what it really means to feel like you belong. Everyone should read this necessary book.

  — Moustafa Bayoumi, author of This Muslim American Life & How Does It Feel To Be A Problem? 

• Naeem’s experiences mirror those of many Muslim, Arab and South Asian teenagers navigating their lives in the backdrop of post 9/11 America. “--Deepa Iyer, author of We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future   

• “In a stirring novel about coming of age amid intensive police surveillance and racial profiling…Budhos captures the tug of youthful innocence leeching away as hard, unjust realities set in.”

  — Publishers Weekly

• “Budhos explores the fine line between racial profiling, surveillance, and entrapment. From Naeem’s point of view, readers gain a unique perspective of growing up in America as a Muslim immigrant…The novel’s timeliness makes it worth the read.”

  — VOYA

• “Tackles identity and belonging or lack thereof, as well as Islamophobia and growing up under surveillance.”

  — Kirkus Reviews