Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are.īut Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together.Īn oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like potatoes-because they make French fries happen. In this way, Ali creates universality through specificity.A marvel: something you find amazing. But Love from A to Z also offers the rare opportunity to read about the viewpoints of Muslim teens in the words of Muslim teen characters. Teens and adults of any cultural background will relate to the book’s themes of family, loss, friendship, uncertain futures, and first loves. Hearing the differing accounts of their romantic interactions – including the details they focus on – lends a sense of intimacy to the book, show casing Ali’s comfort with the epistolary form.

The honesty the characters show in their entries allows for a full portrait of the teens, including their more complex, less idealistic traits.

Meanwhile, Zayneb is attempting to rein in her righteous anger in order to avoid more conflict this includes backing down when two men police her swimming attire and biting her tongue when an acquaintance boasts about wearing a culturally appropriative outfit. Love from A to Z is written in diary form through the characters’ alternating entries readers learn that Adam is hiding a recent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and that Zayneb is in the midst of an academic crisis after a confrontation with an Islamophobic teacher.Īdam’s health issue has him worried about his future and, as a way of coping, he’s isolating himself from the people in his life. Despite the differences in their personalities, they discover an almost spiritual understanding of one another – adding a nuanced layer to the shopworn opposites-attract trope.

In contrast, university student Adam Chen is sensitive, quiet, and introspective. Zayneb Malik is a socially conscious, outspoken high-school senior whose passionate nature can sometimes get her in trouble. respectively – and are continually brought together by what Adam calls “serendipity.” Love from A to Z follows protagonists Zayneb and Adam, who travel to Doha, Qatar – from the U.S. Ali strikes a balance between charming love story and issue-driven narrative, in which Muslim teen characters confront and overcome Islamophobia, racism, and ignorance.

Love from a to z sk ali