The
year is 1991. When Jasira's mother finds out what has been going on
between her boyfriend and her thirteen-year-old daughter, she has
to make a choice -- and chooses to send Jasira off to Houston,
Texas, to live with her father. A remote disciplinarian prone to
explosive rages, Jasira's father is unable to show his daughter the
love she craves -- and far less able to handle her feelings about
her changing body.

Bewildered by extremes of parental scrutiny and neglect, Jasira
begins to look elsewhere for affection. Saddam Hussein has invaded
Kuwait, and high school has become a lonely place for a
"towelhead." When her father meets, and forbids her to see, her
boyfriend, it becomes lonelier still. But there is always Mr. Vuoso
-- a neighboring army reservist whose son Jasira babysits. Mr.
Vuoso, as Jasira discovers, has an extensive collection of
Playboy magazines. And he doesn't seem to think there's
anything wrong with Jasira's body at all.

Painfully funny, tender, and sexually charged, TOWELHEAD is that
rare thing: a gloriously readable novel unafraid to take risks. The
story of a girl failed by her parents and by a conflicted America,
TOWELHEAD is an ultimately redemptive and moving work that none of
us can afford to ignore.

© Copyright 2005 by Simon & Schuster.