Twenty-four-year-old Zarah likes three things: comics, cake, and solitude. She wasn’t always like this. Two years ago, she barricaded herself in a closet during a mass shooting. Now, she keeps flashbacks and panic attacks at bay by imagining she becomes her alter-ego Z, a masked superhero who walks confidently on stilettos and pulls lightning bolts from the frizz in her hair.

Enter Greg, a heart patient and local comic store clerk. With the promise of signed comics, sprinkles, and a mean grilled cheese, Greg helps pull Zarah out of her head and into the real world. But as they grow closer, Zarah faces a choice: confront her past or remain divided as two selves.

This timely and personal debut novel combines elements of women’s fiction, romance, and speculative fiction to give readers a glimpse into Zarah’s world that is at once quirky, heartbreaking, and empowering. Ideal for fans of Eleanor Oliphant and The Fault in our Stars.

**Trigger warnings: gun violence, blood, death, traumatic memory

Praise for I Am Z(arah):

"This was a unique book and I can’t really compare it to anything I’ve read before. It was interesting and enjoyable, yet at the same time a strangely challenging read. And I mean challenging in the best possible way....The themes are very timely in this age of mass shootings, and the author also skillfully explores the aftermath of horror and trauma on the human psyche. Here we have a romance and personal journey entwined – two of society’s more eccentric young people finding and helping each other."

- Judge, 28th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards

Kate W. Shea

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