My father Rahmat Lavi (standing, center), principal and teacher at the Ettefagh Day School, with students, Tehran, Iran, 1956.
BOOK REVIEWS
The Times of Israel By Renee Ghert-Zand, December 4, 2020
"Miniskirted no more: Jewish woman charts 8 years of oppression under Iran regime. In award-winning memoir 'From Miniskirt to Hijab,' Jacqueline Saper explains how watching her 6-year-old daughter don a hijab for 1st grade forced her to finally flee her homeland." Read more →
The Jewish Chronicle, London, England By Madeleine Kingsley, December 20, 2019
"This story is as old as Pharaoh. But Jacqueline Saper tells it afresh in From Miniskirt to Hijab, her vivid memoir of the 1979 Iranian revolution." Read more →
"Miniskirted no more: Jewish woman charts 8 years of oppression under Iran regime. In award-winning memoir 'From Miniskirt to Hijab,' Jacqueline Saper explains how watching her 6-year-old daughter don a hijab for 1st grade forced her to finally flee her homeland." Read more →
The Jewish Chronicle, London, England By Madeleine Kingsley, December 20, 2019
"This story is as old as Pharaoh. But Jacqueline Saper tells it afresh in From Miniskirt to Hijab, her vivid memoir of the 1979 Iranian revolution." Read more →
The Chicago Sun-Times By Neil Steinberg, November 3, 2019
'They Cannot Relate' — 40 Years since Iran Hostage Crisis.
"Saper has written a book, “From Miniskirt to Hijab: A Girl in Revolutionary Iran” (Potomac Books: $29.95), documenting her unusual mixed cultural upbringing, the revolution and her “Argo”-like flight to freedom. She wrote her book because people “need to know what happened in Iran to understand what’s happening in the world today.” Read more →
San Diego Jewish World By Fred Reiss, Ed.D, June 1, 2020
Modern woman tells of life under the ayatollahs
“Saper places us in the front row of her first twenty-five years, granting the privilege to experience her love of life, her empathy for others, her fears and resolve, as she watches her beloved country sink into the slough of despondence under the weight of an intrusive and repressive theocracy. In addition to being a memoir of resiliency and courage, From Miniskirt to Hijab offers glimpses into Iran’s history and customs, its arts and laws, how its social institutions operate, and its people think. From Miniskirt to Hijab: small in size, powerful to read.” Read more →
Chicago Now (Chicago Tribune Publishing) By Teme Ring, September 10, 2020
Jacqueline Saper's "From Miniskirt to Hijab" is a story for out times.
"Jacqueline's memoir is a masterpiece for all time and especially for our times. She is a witness to events that would change her family's destiny and world history. Her story is a testament to grit, perseverance, and, ultimately, victory amidst catastrophe. The last part of the book reveals how she and her husband devised a way to escape Iran. Their resolve and courage are the stuff of legend and human ingenuity at its best." Read more →
Windy City Reviews By Susan Gaspar, June 12, 2020
Book Review: From Miniskirt to Hijab
"This book should be assigned reading for American high school students, and I highly recommended the book for anyone who grew up mostly insulated from the often confusing politics and strife of international affairs." Read more →
The Algemeiner An excerpt , September 11, 2020
"Jacqueline Saper’s comfortable childhood and adolescence in Iran ended in 1978, as the country convulsed with civil unrest and social clashes. In 1979, came a revolution. The shah was ousted, and Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile. Iran was now an Islamic theocracy." Read more →
Hippocampus Literary Magazine By Anita Nham, October 5, 2020
"Saper tells her intimate story of living in Iran for 26 years, and how she survived its three eras: the monarchy, the revolution, and the Islamic Republic. Through these experiences, she learned to accept who she truly is – a person with multiple cultural identities in a society that doesn’t value her." Read more →
JUF News By Robert Nagler Miller, February 24, 2020
Local Jewish author details childhood shattered by the ayatollah and his followers.
"Saper details life under an increasingly oppressive fundamentalist government, where she was forced to cover herself in a hijab and a full-length cloak in public to avoid citations and harassment by the morality police." Read more →
The Wilmette Beacon By Eric DeGrechie, December 5, 2019
Author discusses native Iran, 1979 hostage crisis in memoir
"She grew up in a MIddle Eastern country where its people are predominantly Shia Muslim, while her family belonged to a Jewish community that made up only about one-third of one percent of the population of 35 millions at that time."
Read more→
Harif (Point of No Return) By Lyn Julius, May 13, 2020
Jews from Arab and Muslim Countries and the Middle East's forgotten Jewish refugees.
"The writing on the walls read, “Death to the Shah”. Jacqueline’s father would not see it. The King of Kings, he judged to be invincible." Read more→
Yedioth Ahronoth By Anat Tanner, (In Hebrew) August 15, 2019
מחצאית מיני לחיג'אב – סיפורה של נערה בתקופה ההפיכה באיראן Read more→
'They Cannot Relate' — 40 Years since Iran Hostage Crisis.
"Saper has written a book, “From Miniskirt to Hijab: A Girl in Revolutionary Iran” (Potomac Books: $29.95), documenting her unusual mixed cultural upbringing, the revolution and her “Argo”-like flight to freedom. She wrote her book because people “need to know what happened in Iran to understand what’s happening in the world today.” Read more →
San Diego Jewish World By Fred Reiss, Ed.D, June 1, 2020
Modern woman tells of life under the ayatollahs
“Saper places us in the front row of her first twenty-five years, granting the privilege to experience her love of life, her empathy for others, her fears and resolve, as she watches her beloved country sink into the slough of despondence under the weight of an intrusive and repressive theocracy. In addition to being a memoir of resiliency and courage, From Miniskirt to Hijab offers glimpses into Iran’s history and customs, its arts and laws, how its social institutions operate, and its people think. From Miniskirt to Hijab: small in size, powerful to read.” Read more →
Chicago Now (Chicago Tribune Publishing) By Teme Ring, September 10, 2020
Jacqueline Saper's "From Miniskirt to Hijab" is a story for out times.
"Jacqueline's memoir is a masterpiece for all time and especially for our times. She is a witness to events that would change her family's destiny and world history. Her story is a testament to grit, perseverance, and, ultimately, victory amidst catastrophe. The last part of the book reveals how she and her husband devised a way to escape Iran. Their resolve and courage are the stuff of legend and human ingenuity at its best." Read more →
Windy City Reviews By Susan Gaspar, June 12, 2020
Book Review: From Miniskirt to Hijab
"This book should be assigned reading for American high school students, and I highly recommended the book for anyone who grew up mostly insulated from the often confusing politics and strife of international affairs." Read more →
The Algemeiner An excerpt , September 11, 2020
"Jacqueline Saper’s comfortable childhood and adolescence in Iran ended in 1978, as the country convulsed with civil unrest and social clashes. In 1979, came a revolution. The shah was ousted, and Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile. Iran was now an Islamic theocracy." Read more →
Hippocampus Literary Magazine By Anita Nham, October 5, 2020
"Saper tells her intimate story of living in Iran for 26 years, and how she survived its three eras: the monarchy, the revolution, and the Islamic Republic. Through these experiences, she learned to accept who she truly is – a person with multiple cultural identities in a society that doesn’t value her." Read more →
JUF News By Robert Nagler Miller, February 24, 2020
Local Jewish author details childhood shattered by the ayatollah and his followers.
"Saper details life under an increasingly oppressive fundamentalist government, where she was forced to cover herself in a hijab and a full-length cloak in public to avoid citations and harassment by the morality police." Read more →
The Wilmette Beacon By Eric DeGrechie, December 5, 2019
Author discusses native Iran, 1979 hostage crisis in memoir
"She grew up in a MIddle Eastern country where its people are predominantly Shia Muslim, while her family belonged to a Jewish community that made up only about one-third of one percent of the population of 35 millions at that time."
Read more→
Harif (Point of No Return) By Lyn Julius, May 13, 2020
Jews from Arab and Muslim Countries and the Middle East's forgotten Jewish refugees.
"The writing on the walls read, “Death to the Shah”. Jacqueline’s father would not see it. The King of Kings, he judged to be invincible." Read more→
Yedioth Ahronoth By Anat Tanner, (In Hebrew) August 15, 2019
מחצאית מיני לחיג'אב – סיפורה של נערה בתקופה ההפיכה באיראן Read more→