Cloud of Witnesses and its connection to Iran

New Title for Young People Features Iranian/American Relations

Cloud of Witnesses by Jane Hertenstein (ages 11- 14, published by Golden Alley Press) is set in Athens, Ohio during the Iran Hostage Crisis. Roland Tanner is a hillbilly, someone from rural Appalachia, and often feels like an outsider within his family and community. Tested as gifted, he is bused from his rural trailer to the town middle school where he meets Hassan, another outsider, whose family has relocated to from Iran to Athens where his father works at the university. The friendship is challenged when hostages are taken when the U.S. Embassy in Tehran is overrun in November 1979.

While crowds in the streets of Tehran chanted “Death to America,” news outlets depict incidents of Americans burning the Iranian flag. Roland is forced to examine his alliances and loyalties. In many ways Roland and Hassan have a lot in common—both feel like they don’t belong.

Hassan: “The kids at school think I’m a terrorist.”

Roland: “People think that because I live in a trailer I’m ignorant, a hillbilly.”

Historical analogies in Cloud of Witnesses are relevant now more than ever (the Iran Hostage Crisis, Islamophobia, the outsider, etc). Lists of books for young people that feature Iranian/American characters are few.  It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas is about a young immigrant from Iran in the 1970s. Others are: Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card by Sara Saedi, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, and Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali (though not specifically about an Iranian/American character, this is a beautiful and nuanced story about a young woman exploring her identity through friendship, family, and faith.

Published by Golden Alley Press, Cloud of Witnesses https://goldenalleypress.com/jane-hertenstein/media-kit-for-cloud-of-witnesses/

Download press kit and reading guide for teachers, as well as other resources.

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