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Mina is a headstrong girl. She isn't afraid to share her opinion and debate it with others. While she loves her old school she is welcoming the opportunity that going to this school gives her. "'So you don't offer a choice of non halal?' The woman says. 'No we don't,' [She] says losing [her] temper, 'Just like a vegetarian restaurant isn't going to serve up roast lamb. We've chosen to use halal meat, and we know we might lose customers, but restaurants make those calls all the time." (Abdel-Fattah, 312)

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immTerrence is a boy who struggles with his behavior, in the book we see two different sides of him. He can be very sweet and kind, but he can also be a jerk, and stoop so low as to humiliate his classmates for fun. "'Man that wasn't cool or funny,' [Michael] tells Terrence. He laughs. 'Yeah was a bit low, hey. But I couldn't help it. I'm so over seeing girls moping around like they're surprised that life sometimes sucks.' He rolls his eyes." (Abdel-Fattah, 299)

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The main conflict of the story is that Mina has escaped from Afghanistan on a boat and has finally made a life for herself and her family in Australia. Michael has heard all his life about the people who come from Afghanistan on boats cheating the system. When the two meet young love strikes, and Michael begins to question his parents beliefs while Mina stands by her opinions strongly. Them being together hurts both their families and they have to decide if it's worth it. They both stand by their beliefs and their families forgive all.

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The story takes place in Northshore Sydney where Mina and Michael meet and change their lives together forever. It's bright and colorful but everything is perfect, its not messy and most people don't like to talk to one another. This story takes place around 2017. "The pungent scent of fish wafting out of the fish shop at the entrance to the mall. The fruit and vegetables teeming with early morning shoppers, nobody queuing up, everybody somehow managing to buy their stuff without any fuss. The group of Sudanese men sitting at the corner coffee shop, smoking, sipping coffee, and talking." (Abdel-Fattah, 8)

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In the book, Michael's parents are extremely xenophobic and make several remarks over the course of time that display their displeasure with foreign people who wish to escape poverty and war in their home country. "'I'm just surprised they have the courage to put someone like you on the show, Alan. I guess they know you won't be peddling all that politically correct lets open the borders and flood our country into a disaster nonsense.'" (Abdel-Fattah, 19)

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Theme 2: The debate of political ideologies

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Theme 2: The debate of political ideologies

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Michael's parents believe that immigrants escaping Afghanistan by paying to be smuggled on a boat to America are cheating the people that have to wait by going through the border. Mina's parents disagree as this is how they escaped and they still remember the horrible experiences they had from only just managing to make it to safety and finally be able to build a life for themselves there. Throughout the book this theme pops up as Mina's parents are abashed by the accusations of Michael's. "'With reports of halal food funding terrorism overseas, can you confirm whether you know where the money you spend on halal food is actually going?' Baba looks utterly stricken. [She] ran over to him, blocking him from the camera. 'You have no right,' [She] cries, 'we don't have to answer your questions.'" (Abdel-Fattah, 134)

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Michael is kind, active, and conflicted. The whole book revolves around the fact that Michael is struggling to see his parents' view of the world as right once he meets Mina. He knows what he wants but he has a hard time letting other people know that. "It burned the h*ll out of the back of my throat, gave me bad cotton mouth. Life can fog up enough by itself without me giving it a hand." (Abdel-Fattah, 49-50)

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I give The Lines We Cross three out of five stars. The book was good, I liked the character dynamics and their interactions. I would have liked to see more movement with their relationships, because there was a point where I was struggling to move on because nothing was happening. My favorite part was when Mina and Michael started dating and their parents didn't know because it made it interesting that they had to keep their relationship a secret. My least favorite part was at the beginning when Michael very obviously liked her but couldn't ever say something competent in her company, and also kept repeating that he, "[Couldn't] figure her out."