Author Sima Goel's Fleeing the Hijab: A Jewish Woman's Escape from Iran is a vivid portrait of a dangerous journey made by two teenaged women through the Iranian desert to Pakistan, where, as homeless refugees, they struggled desperately to find some way to escape to the West. This true story needs to be heard and remembered. It was the last straw! The Ayatollah Khomeini had decreed that all women in Iran must wear the hijab, whether they were Muslim, Jewish, Christian, or Bahá'í. Thirteen-year-old Sima had gone out into the streets of Shiraz to demonstrate for freedom from the Shah's oppressive rule, and now that he had fled the country, this was the result: a new regime, and much more dangerous oppression. The changes Ayatollah Khomeini's regime forced on the population were totally incompatible with Sima's ambitions and sense of personal freedom. Blacklisted by her school, unable to continue her studies, mourning the loss of innocent family members and friends murdered by the new regime, and forced to wear the hijab, she realized she had to leave her beloved birthplace and find a country where she could be free to follow her dreams.