It Ain't So Awful, Falafel

Zomorod “Cindy” Yousefzadeh is the main protagonist of It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel, and the novel is told from her perspective as she and her family settle in Newport Beach, California, just before the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis. Zomorod is 11 years old when the novel begins and turns 13 by its end. She goes by “Cindy” with her friends and “Zomorod” at home with her parents. Over the course of the story, Zomorod goes from being a lonely kid to someone who has a community while also having to endure discrimination as a result of the United States’ actions and relationships with other countries on a global stage.

When Zomorod arrives in Newport Beach, she has already spent three years in America, having previously lived in Compton with her parents. Feeling like she has a stronger grasp on what life is like in America, she uses her fresh start in Newport Beach to start going by “Cindy” so that her name does not mark her as a foreigner. She also goes out of her way to make friends, which she did not have while living in Compton. Her effort is immediately successful, and her neighbor Original Cindy—the first person her age that she meets—is quick to accept Zomorod.