About the Book
Two half-siblings who have never met embark on a search together for the Iranian immigrant and U.S. Army veteran father they never knew.
Samira Murphy will do anything to keep her fractured family from falling apart, including caring for her widowed grandmother and getting her older brother into recovery for alcohol addiction. With attendance at her dream college on the line, she takes a long shot DNA test to find the support she so desperately needs from a father she hasn’t seen since she was a baby.
Henry Owen is torn between his well-meaning but unreliable bio-mom and his overly strict aunt and uncle, who stepped in to raise him but don’t seem to see him for who he is. Looking to forge a stronger connection to his own identity, he takes a DNA test to find the one person who might love him for exactly who he is―the biological father he never knew.
Instead of a DNA match with their father, Samira and Henry are matched with each other. They begin to search for their father together and slowly unravel the difficult truth of their shared past, forming a connection that only siblings can have and recovering precious parts of their past that have been lost. Brimming with emotional resonance, Susan Azim Boyer’s The Search for Us beautifully renders what it means to find your place in the world through the deep and abiding power of family.
My Review
I don’t read YA novels often but I tend to be drawn to books that involve DNA tests and finding family through them. Being from a sperm donor and using these tests to find half siblings of my own, I find it interesting to get more perspectives on people that experience the same – whether it be real life or fiction. Samira and Henry meet through DNA testing, both hoping the test would lead them to their biological father for different reasons. The two are curious when they realize they have found a sibling instead, and decide to team up to better their chances of finding their bio dad. Through getting to know one another, they understand more about complicated family dynamics, their childhoods and how its impacted them through young adulthood, and an unexpected bond between the pair. I thought it was interesting how much hope was a constant theme woven between the chapters, and while the topics could be heavy at times – including alcoholism and cultural repression – the writing felt heartfelt and genuine throughout. While not my normal book of choice, I was glad I gave this a read.
