Mientras crezcan los limoneros

Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student with a relatively normal life when the cries for freedom began to break out in Syria. Now, she works as a volunteer at a Homs hospital, helping the wounded who walk through its doors daily. Secretly, she is desperate to find a way to get out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imaginary partner Khawf, who chases her every move to keep her safe. But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Of course, when she least expects it, she runs into a boy who changes everything.

Zoulfa Katouh has a bachelor's degree in pharmacy and is currently pursuing a master's degree in drug science. She is trilingual in English, Arabic and German. Her contemporary YA debut, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow, makes her the first Syrian YA author to be published in the US and UK.