Your rizq is written by Allah swt, and this book is such an easy to see example of that, in a time when Islamophobia, DEI, book bans, and diverse stories are not being published, this 368 page YA book has more Islam than the majority of self-pubbed Islamic fiction reads I’ve EVER read, and it is traditionally published, SubhanAllah! it is a halal romance, that features niqabi (why doesn’t she have her niqabi on on the cover?), Black Muslims, supportive friends and family, it is written for everyone, but teenage Muslim girls are going to love this. If you are waiting on the but, here it is, I loved a lot about the book, but- it required me to accept the premise and I just don’t. I don’t have anything against getting married young, but I never really felt I understood the protagonist and her motives from the start: why did she all of a sudden just quit high school, why all of a sudden want to get married, and why were her reasonings told and not shown. Had high school been awful maybe I’d get it, but just because she missed the focus of deen that Ramadan held and now feels high school cuts in to, seems weak to me. Wants to get married because she sees a couple on the bus, but doesn’t really know what she wants in a spouse and why, seems unfortunate. Why couldn’t she be done with high school and then be looking to get married, would have definitely made the positioning craftwise less cumbersome, and perhaps would have allowed Zakiyyah to be seen as a more thought out and defined character.  Readers would have seen her determination, her stubbornness, her backstory and why we should be cheering her on and hoping she is making good choices, as is, I didn’t support her leaving school, she had at least one really good friend, she still will need to learn how to balance deen and duniya and Islamphobes, so what does it accomplish?  Also in many ways the book is a roadmap for young people looking to get married (intentional or not), what should be considered and discussed, but the protagonists age and the initial plot point I think will limit potential readers from engaging with the book, and thus miss out on a fun and informative read.  Ok back to the positives, I can imagine the emails, and post-it notes, and convo bubbles didn’t work for everyone, but I enjoyed them, and thought they added some levity and cuteness to the story. The book is YA, I think 15-16 and up will enjoy it, the Islam holds the halalness at it’s core, the focus is marriage, there is some conversations that younger readers might not be ready for, birth control pops in my head, and the Boston Marathon tragedy happens in the story and could be a potential flag for some readers, I hope mature readers though, will spend extra time reading those parts and understanding the author’s perspective and commentary from the mc’s perspective as I found them to be powerful and important.

SYNOPSIS: As provided by the publisher

An unforgettable, heartwarming, hilarious coming-of-age story about faith, family, all kinds of love, and a Black Muslim teen pursuing an ordinary goal in an extraordinary time.

Barely one week into senior year of high school, Boston native Zakiyyah is making her 2012-2013 Get Free Plan.

Step one: quit high school. (PSA: There are other ways to get to college!)

Step two: live like it’s Ramadan year-round.

As she gets deeper into her Plan, she starts to wonder if there’s someone out there who would be a good companion. To everyone’s surprise, Zakiyyah decides she wants to get married. But there are some complications.

Problem one: she’s never met a guy she liked. Zakiyyah’s family (reluctantly) and friends (eagerly) agree to support the search.

Problem two: what’s the secret to choosing a good life partner?

Enter Musa, by way of mutual friends. With marriage in mind, Zakiyyah and Musa get to know each other, progressing from email to instant messaging to phone calls. Things are going well… thrillingly well… until tragedy strikes Boston. In a moment of heightened emotion and stress, Zakiyyah and Musa have their first major disagreement.

Zakiyyah can call the whole thing off. But with or without Musa, what does it mean to live on her own terms?

WHY I LIKE IT:
I love the unapologetic Islam. I love the normalization of going to the masjid and watching baseball games, getting married over dating, and parents being kind and not toxic, and good solid friendships, and community support- like truly this book offers so much reality and insight that all Muslims long for living in the west particularly. I love how easy the read is, and that it honestly stays halal.

Also I love that grandma is not Muslim but so supportive, I have two non Muslim grandmas and one is super supportive of my choices, and one not so much, and I love seeing the supportive rep in books, alhumdulillah.

FLAGS:

relationships, terrorism, racism, stereotypes, hate crimes, talk about societal pressures, I think there were some discussions about birth control.

*Disclaimer, I read the book a while ago and was unable to write up the review immediately after, please forgive any errors, or oversights.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
Oh this book needs to be discussed in classrooms, book clubs, masjids, friend circles, it will be read, no doubt, but the discussion and putting it into practice will be such a gift to the youth group, moms, aunties, and community leaders already doing the work with our youth to get them aware of what marriage and looking for a life partner should look like.