Code of Honor

Kamran Smith is the protagonist and narrator of Code of Honor. He begins the book as a popular high school student; he is Homecoming king, and dating a girl named Julia Gary, whom he loves. Kamran is on the football team and is nearly done completing his application to attend West Point the following autumn. When his brother, Darius, is blacklisted and considered to be a terrorist and defector, Kamran's life falls apart and he comes under suspicion as well, until he is taken in as a “guest” of the US government and kept in a holding facility in Washington, DC. Kamran has a strong moral compass and gathers much inspiration from his older brother and their shared moral code. Kamran struggles with his Persian-American identity, as well as his own temper, which sometimes causes him problems. As the book progresses, Kamran becomes more aware of his own self-doubt, and becomes a stronger and more resilient character. He also becomes less naive, and begins to understand the often conflicting, duplicitous, and close-minded nature of the world around him.