Mom, I'm a Muslim

by Chris Read

Christopher Johannson must make the most difficult decision of his adult life: announce to his kind yet devoted Christian parents and eventually the rest of American society that he has chosen Allah seven months after 9/11. Excommunicated by his family for his disclosure yet determined to teach in one of the most dangerous school districts in the United States, Christopher—now Muhammad—packs everything he owns and moves to Texas, where after several months of abuse and isolation he finds himself in the lobby of a psychiatrist’s office searching for meaning between his decisions of the past and his current mental breakdown. His reflections ultimately lead to one unresolved question: Was his decision to embrace Islam—a religion viewed at best as suspicious in most countrymen’s eyes after 9/11—a divine calling, or was it a consequence of a man who was tired of feeling ignored because he failed to measure up to the standards of mainstream society? A story about a young man in the grips of an identity crisis, Mom, I’m a Muslim also depicts a country’s home front struggling to make sense of itself and also struggling to maintain its composure during the war on terror.

318 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 13, 2010