Yes No Maybe So

by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed

[Berls]

This was so good! I loved the characters and the themes were incredibly relevant. I felt like the author did a great job of showing diversity in several forms (race, religion, sexuality). I also really enjoyed the teenage perspective on growing up diverse in an America that is very divided about diversity and rights right now.

Maya is a Muslim teenager - which brings in two diverse narratives. She's racially brown skinned and Muslim, two identities that have endured quite a lot of discrimination, especially in post 2016 America (which is a very specific frame of reference for this book, which comments explicitly on the 2016 election and how it changed things for discrimination in this country without naming Trump outright). I felt like the author did a fair job of presenting both identities as equally part of who Maya was, which I appreciated. Jamie is a Jewish teenager, who because of his white skin has escaped some of the discrimination Maya experiences, but isn't wholly spared. He also has gay best friends and another character comes out at one point. The sexual diversity is more of a nod than a focal point in the book, but it's not to be overlooked.

The diversity is fitting for this book, since Maya and Jamie are bonding while working on a campaign in a red district trying to flip a seat in a special election. As someone who has worked on campaigns (in red districts, supporting a blue candidate) I also appreciated the emotions they go through - the frustration, the excitement, the feeling of making a difference, and the disappointment. It was just a very relevant book for our current political moment and I would love to see this book finding its way into high school English class's curriculum. It shows the importance of being politically educated and involved and how the small elections are just as - if not more - important than the national ones. I think it's highly appropriate for a group of teens who are about to reach voting age.

Also worth noting - this isn't just a political statement book. It's a book about families, growing up, friendships (and how they change as we grow), and first love. The story - even without the politics - is a beautiful one.

I own this book in both print and audio, but I ended up listening to it and I'm really glad I did. The narration by Tiya Sircar and Michael Crouch brought the characters to life beautifully and they complimented each other well.