Yes No Maybe So – Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed

Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for this local state senate candidate, as long as he is behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers, Jamie just can’t. There is no way that he would ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes. That is until he meets Maya.

Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friends is too busy to hang out, her summer trip has been cancelled and now her parents are separating. She also has no idea why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing with an awkward guy she hardly knows.

I went into this book honestly having next to no idea what it was going to be about. I was expecting your typical contemporary but it is so much more than that. It is sweet and summery, yes, but it is also relevant, engaging and realistic. This book has something for everyone, from highly relatable characters, to diversity in terms of race and religion as well as fighting for what you believe in.

This book does an incredible job of putting the characters into situations that forced them to grow and re-evaluate their beliefs. This book completely goes against your expectations of the genre and causes both the characters and readers to change they assumptions. Little things like Jamie’s grandma being a social media influencer and Jamie realising his ignorance about Ramadan really add so much to the story. Personally, I cannot comment on the representation in the book, but it is own voices in terms of Jewish, Muslim and Pakistani-American.

Jamie and Maya are both excellent main characters and have incredibly developed and realistic personalities that I feel so many people will be able to relate to. I loved reading the story from both of their POV’s and seeing how they all feel in different situations that arise within that narrative. There are so many wonderful side characters in this book and I feel Jamie’s grandma deserves a mention and I wish she was real!

This book feels incredible realistic and to be honest this is quite terrifying. Although I am not from the US, it is difficult to escape American politics and the bills they are passing. I could also relate to this happening in the UK too and it made me want to take a stand here.

This book is definitely meant to make you feel mad about the state of politics across the world today. It is also shows the passion both authors have about the current state of America’s government. Overall it left me with a feeling of hope. Hoping that our generation can change things and hope that even though I am only one person, I can still make a difference no matter how small. Also, hope that life can be improved for the thousands who are currently suffering under oppressive and discriminatory governments, not just in the US bu across the world. Aisha and Becky have both done amazing jobs of writing such a hard-hitting and important story and I cannot wait to read more from them both in the future.

Overall, I throughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a sweet story that is also incredibly hard-hitting and realistic. I hope that one day, teenagers can read this book and not have to relate to the issues we are facing today.