Susan Azim Boyer is the author of the new young adult novel The Search for Us. It focuses on two teens who take DNA tests hoping to find their biological father, but instead find each other. She also has written the YA novel Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win. She lives in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area.
Q: How would you describe the dynamic between your characters Henry and Samira?
A: The dynamic between Henry and Samira is very wary at first; neither is expecting to be matched with a sibling when they take their DNA tests – they want to find their father!
Samira, especially, is coping with her brother, Kamron’s, alcohol addiction and doesn’t have the bandwidth for another brother. Their evolution, from strangers to true siblings, is what motivated me to write the book.
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: I knew, overall, how I wanted the story to end but the details changed along the way. For instance, as the book evolved, Henry and Samira’s journey became as much about recovering their lost Iranian identity as it was about finding their bio-dad.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: I hope readers become emotionally involved with Henry and Samira’s journey and can relate to the themes of yearning for an absent parent and understanding your place in the world as well as the experience of coping with a family member struggling with alcohol addiction.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am working on an adult book, a women’s fiction project with a romance element.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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