The Taliban Cricket Club

Rukhsana knows this is a deeply ludicrous idea-the Taliban will fail to embrace a game rooted in civility, fairness and equality. There is no tolerance for violence or cheating. And no one in Afghanistan even plays cricket. Except Rukhsana. This could be a way to get her cousins and her brother out of Afganistan for good, but before practice can even begin, Wahidi demands her hand in marriage. The union would be her death sentence, stripping away what few freedoms she has left under Taliban rule and forcing her away from her family and under Wahidi's complete control. Her family rallies around her, willing to do anything to protect her, even if it means their own imprisonment, or worse. But Rukhsana realizes that Wahidi may have given her a way out, too. With the help of her loyal, beloved cousins, she forms her own cricket team and sets about teaching them how to win them their freedom-with a bat and a ball. In this soaring novel of resilience, Rukhsana's strength, hope and tenderness reveal how no tyranny is ever absolute in the face of love.