Book Review: Yes No Maybe So, by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed
By Abby Spasser
Set in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, Yes No Maybe So is a cross-cultural young adult romance between Jamie, a seventeen-year-old Jewish boy who fears public speaking and interacting with strangers like the plague, and Maya, a seventeen-year-old Muslim girl dealing with her parents’ separation. Pressured by their parents into canvassing for a local politician all summer, the two teenagers develop a close relationship despite Jamie’s awkwardness and Maya’s parents’ strict no-dating-in-high-school policy.
Written by two authors, the book’s chapters alternate between Jamie and Maya’s first-person perspectives, allowing the reader to witness campaign drama and their budding romance from both sides. In Yes No Maybe So, Albertalli and Saeed have penned a novel about the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone, listening to others, and taking a stand.
At the beginning of the book, Jamie resembles many of today’s teens when he says, “I’m not a history changer.” However, by the end of the story it’s clear that not only can teen activism shape national politics; it can have a lasting impact on their relationships with the people and world around them.
Available in eBook or audiobook on Overdrive, Libby, and Hoopla (audiobook only).
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