I'm Just Me. follows Nasreen and Mia at Arondale High: two very different teens who become targets of assumptions, taunts and growing harassment. One is the only Muslim student; the other is the new African American girl. Their school life turns tense both in person and online.
Nasreen has planned an escape through college, while Mia refuses to be silenced. The girls forge a plan to confront bullying, reclaim dignity and push back against ignorance. The narrative tackles race, faith, foster care and teen trauma with direct language suited to struggling or reluctant readers.
Short, accessible and award-recognized, the novel works well for classroom discussion or teen readers exploring identity, resilience and peer conflict.
- Themes: bullying, racism, Muslim experience, African American experience, high school
- Lexile: 390–400 • Approx. 200 pages
- Publisher: Saddleback Educational Publishing • Paperback