A Thousand Touches

Friday Night Lights meets The Kite Runner set in Bourbon Country."In David Shams's affecting novel, high school sports, complicated family dynamics, and unexpected first love play out against the insular backdrop of small-town Kentucky... Written with particular insight, skillfully showing how immigrant parents can often compartmentalize trauma and unresolved grief to assimilate and achieve the American Dream."- BlueInk ReviewA small town. A first love. A season that changes everything.In Bardstown, Kentucky, the Bourbon Capital of the World, Cyrus Soltani is used to standing out. He's the star of his high school soccer team, chasing a state championship in his senior year. He's also the son of an Iranian immigrant father who expects more than victories on the field and of a town that never quite lets him forget he doesn't fully belong.As the season intensifies, so do the pressures at home and in the stands. Then Isabella arrives-an Italian exchange student who sees Cyrus clearly and challenges him in ways no one else does. What begins as a bright, consuming first love quickly becomes entangled in everything Cyrus is trying to outrun.In the end, growing up isn't just about leaving-it's about deciding what you carry with you.