MP's Reading Road serie : A love from A to Z by S. K. Ali [English]

FICHE DE LECTURE

NAME OF THE BOOK :

Love From A to Z

AUTHOR :

Simon & Schuster, 2019

EDITIONS :

S. K. Ali is the author of the 2018 Morris Award finalist « Saints and Misfits ». Her debut Novel won critical acclaim for its portrayal of an unapologetic American teen’s life. She lives with her family and a very vocal cat named Yeti, with whom she must engage in vigorous debate in order to access her laptop, since he cherishes it as another of his many beds. 

MAIN CHARACTERS:  

Zaynab (and Adam (a handsome muslim boy

TYPE

Fiction, Muslim Romance

SUBJECT(S)

Muslim Youth, Racism, Islamophobia, Sclerosis, Love, High School

SECONDARY CHARACTERS :

Auty Nandy, aunt of Zayneb – Sadia and Mansoor, sister and brother of Zayneb, ayaan, kavi her friends

Hanna: Adma’s sister, Connor, Tsetso, Madison, the three Emma, etc.: Adam’s friends

Zahid a good taxim who helped Adam

RESUME:

A marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes—because they make French fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together.

An oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are.

But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. She’s angry.

When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt’s house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break.

Fueled by the guilt of getting her friends in trouble, she resolves to try out a newer, “nicer” version of herself in a place where no one knows her.

Then her path crosses with Adam’s.

Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam’s stopped going to classes, intent, instead, on perfecting the making of things. Intent on keeping the memory of his mom alive for his little sister.

Adam’s also intent on keeping his diagnosis a secret from his grieving father.

Alone, Adam and Zayneb are playing roles for others, keeping their real thoughts locked away in their journals.

Until a marvel and an oddity occurs…

Marvel: Adam and Zayneb meeting.

Oddity: Adam and Zayneb meeting.

IMPRESSIONS :

Before anything else, I wanna talk about the cover of the book. IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL. This cover is pretty and marvelous. The  blue vibe in it, the outfit of Adam and Zaynab (I mean the man and the girl in the cover), how they look at each other 🥺❤. And I feel the blue energy through the book.

 Zaynab is a sixteen years old hijabi girl who wants to live as a normal girl like that white girl in the plane, or those girls in her high school. Instead of that, she has to go through racism, islamophobia, adolescence and stuff like that. After some problems at school, she takes a break and joins her aunt in Dubai. There, she meets Adam, an eighteen years old boy. They both have a journal, the marvel and oddity journal, where they put all their thoughts, moods, and feelings. Zaynab is strong, funny, sarcastic (sometimes lol) and angry at some point.. I love how she deals with racism at school with her teacher, how she has chosen to not be silent, to be courageous, to stand-up aussi minime que cela puisse paraître. 

The author talks about love between teenagers as muslim. How can they handle their feelings without crossing the line as practicing muslims. I think it’s a good thing (I’m not ok with it at all but I really like we have this topic in our literature – on muslim books) ‘cause this would be a way for muslim teens to know what to do when they fall in love with the opposite gender at a young age.

There is a lot of emotions in this book🥵, it is very difficult to live as a muslim in this world. There are many stereotypes about us in the west, and to see how our brother and sister have to go through makes us feel so sad. Even in muslim countries, when you want to practice the deen, there are so many things that block you. The pool’s incident reminds me that here in Senegal, a country where the majority of the population is muslim, you can’t wear a burkini at some hotels 🤡🤡🤡. It’s exactly the same as it is in the book. Expatriates will come to our country, in our reality, culture and beliefs and claim that they don’t want what is defining us. 

The mains characters are so attracting, kind and lovely🥰. Adam, what a boy😍😍!!!

(And this book is the second book that I've read talking about sclerosis, so it reminds me of the first one “La vie est trop courte” by Sally Mandel). He is very devoted to his family, toward his father and his sister. They are a very 

When I discovered that Adam had sclerosis I was in shock, I didn’t expect it. The way the author talked about this disease, how Zaynab was there for him, helped him, supported him… it was just amazing.

What a marvelous, with some oddities, novel 😉. 

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