The Most Precious Substance On Earth

<B>Journey Prize winner Shashi Bhat’s "powerful, surprising and terrifying" (Rufi Thorpe) story about a high school student's traumatic experience and how it irrevocably alters her life, for fans of <I>13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, Girlhood, </I>and<I> Pen15</I>.  </B><BR/><BR/> Bright, hilarious, and sensitive fourteen-year-old Nina spends her spare time reading Beowulf and flirting with an internet predator. She has a vicious crush on her English teacher, and her best friend Amy is slowly drifting away. Meanwhile, Nina’s mother tries to match her up with local Indian boys unfamiliar with her <I>Saved by the Bell</I> references, and Nina’s worried father has started reciting Hindu prayers outside her bedroom door. Beginning with a disturbing incident at her high school, <I>The Most Precious Substance on Earth</I> tells stories of Nina’s life from the ‘90s to present day, when she returns to the classroom as a high school teacher w