Anything But Okay by Sarah Darer Littman

Publisher: Scholastic
On Sale Date: October 9th 2018
Pages: 352
Age Range: Young Adult

Lately, things are tense in Stella's life. Her older brother Rob has returned recently from marine service in Afghanistan, and he hasn't been the same as he was before and is suffering from post traumatic stress. Luckily she has the bestest friend you can imagine, Farida who always cheers her up and with who she watches movies often.  Besides that, she wants to run for junior class president.

Desperate to help her brother and to cheer him up, Stella tries to take him outside more. But then things take a turn for the worse when there is an incident involvin Rob in the mall where they went to go to the movie At a foodcourt terrace, tensions rise up when some local boys make racist comments to a teenge waiter with a Sikh turban. They yell at him that he better back to where he came from . This makes Rob so mad that he beats one of the guys.
Rob is arrested for assault in handcuffs, and after that, tensions in town and at school rise up when a video of the incident goes viral, only showing Rob and not what happened earlier.The entire school takes side Rob is labeled a terrorist sympathizer, and even Farida is dragged into the conflict, even when she wasn't there, and Sttella will have to decide just how far she's willing to go for the truth.

I really liked this book. It shows painfully what is going on in the USA at many points, like how veterans are being treated when they come home, what post traumatic stress means in reald life, and the current political climate around racism and immigrants Like all the other books by this author (luckily I had the chance to read and review some of her previous books) it is beautifully written. Also the  character development and plot were all really well done. Overall an impressing, highly entertaining, and thought provoking book!!