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# The Montgomery Brief Author of the Month: Rebecca Morrison
- URL: https://www.themontgomerybrief.org/the-montgomery-brief-author-of-the-month-rebecca-morrison/
- Published: 2026-08-31T00:01:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-31T00:01:37.000Z
- Author: Cristina Caicedo Smit
- Tags: Education, Immigration

**In her first book "The Blue Dress" author draws her own immigrant story to tackle body image and belonging**

In her debut book, “The Blue Dress,” the author draws on her immigrant story to tackle body image and belonging.

Inspired by her own childhood, Rebecca Morrison’s debut novel explores immigration, body image and eating disorders. Morrison says she hopes the book, which reflects themes she lived firsthand, starts open conversations between teenagers and parents.

“The Blue Dress” follows Yasmin, a 13-year-old Iranian girl adjusting to life in America while navigating pressure from her mother to lose weight and cruelty from classmates over her background.

In an interview with The Montgomery Brief, Morrison said the story is fictionalized and set in the present day.

“It’s based on my childhood,” she said. “I made it contemporary for today.”

The author left Iran at age 8 and moved through several countries before arriving in the United States as a teenager, around age 14.

“My parents were looking for the best place to raise their kids and after living in France in England they decided to go to Vancouver and then later to America because that would be a better place for their kids.”

She said the repeated upheaval shaped how she tried to fit in once she reached American schools.

“I wanted to assimilate so much,” she said, adding “I did everything to become American.”

Because her body did not match clothing available in stores, becoming a high achiever in school became her way of proving her worth. She went on to practice law for nearly 30 years before writing her first book.

The novel’s title comes straight from Morrison’s childhood, inspired by a blue dress her mother sewed for her to wear to a middle school dance, at 14.

In the book, however, Yasmin’s mother deliberately sews the dress too small, hoping the tight fit will push her daughter to lose weight. The dress is meant for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, a major holiday across Iranian and other Middle Eastern communities.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/62/c5/62c50597-cadb-497e-99a3-4ec7f511bad6/content/images/2026/08/Rebecca-Morrison.webp)

Rebecca Morrison, Tehran 1976\. Photo courtesy: Rebecca Morrison

“The dress really symbolizes both this hope of fitting in, and then later on, it changes, that you don’t have to fit in to feel good about yourself,” Morrison said.

The book has been selected by the National Education Association for its 2026–2027 Read Across America program, tied to an August theme centered on body diversity. It is also available through public libraries, including Montgomery County Public libraries.

Since its release at the end of March, the author has visited schools and spoken with students, many of whom she said have shared their own struggles with parental pressure, weight and fitting in.

Morrison also heard from women who said the story reflected experiences from their own youth.

The author encourages young readers to confide in a trusted adult or peer, if they are struggling.

“It doesn’t even have to be your best friend,” she said. “It could be a counselor you like, a teacher you like.”

Morrison appeared this year at the Gaithersburg Book Festival, a stop she described as a highlight despite being a first-time author with a book that had only recently been published.

She said the festival drew a diverse group of writers and attendees, and she was struck by how readers connected with the story.

Among those she met was an Indian mother and daughter who approached her to talk about the book and had their copy signed.

She also recalled seeing Middle Eastern children in the audience alongside their parents. For those readers, she said, seeing an author whose background mirrored their own carried weight.

“Seeing a representation of someone that is diverse in different ways makes both kids and parents feel like there’s a voice out there that is similar to theirs,” she said, adding that meeting people who had read the book or wanted to discuss it was “a thrill.”

She is now writing a second book, a multigenerational novel for adults that follows an Iranian woman from age 16 into her late 50s, exploring immigration, family relationships, love and grief.