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Young Adult Fiction Contemporary

Love from Mecca to Medina

by (author) S.K. Ali

Publisher
Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Initial publish date
Oct 2022
Category
Contemporary, General (see also headings under Social Themes), Prejudice & Racism
Recommended Age
14 to 18
Recommended Grade
9 to 12
Recommended Reading age
14 to 18
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781665916073
    Publish Date
    Oct 2022
    List Price
    $26.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781665934152
    Publish Date
    Oct 2022
    List Price
    $18.99
  • Downloadable audio file

    ISBN
    9781797150512
    Publish Date
    Oct 2022
    List Price
    $25.99
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781665916097
    Publish Date
    Oct 2022
    List Price
    $9.99 USD
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781665916080
    Publish Date
    Oct 2023
    List Price
    $16.99

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Description

On the trip of a lifetime, Adam and Zayneb must find their way back to each other in this surprising and romantic sequel to the “bighearted, wildly charming” (Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author) Love from A to Z that’s a “contemplative exploration of faith, love, and the human condition” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

Adam and Zayneb. Perfectly matched. Painfully apart.

Adam is in Doha, Qatar, making a map of the Hijra, a historic migration from Mecca to Medina, and worried about where his next paycheck will come from. Zayneb is in Chicago, where school and extracurricular stresses are piling on top of a terrible frenemy situation, making her miserable.

Then a marvel occurs: Adam and Zayneb get the chance to spend Thanksgiving week on the Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia. Adam is thrilled; it’s the reboot he needs and an opportunity to pray for a hijra in real life: to migrate to Zayneb in Chicago. Zayneb balks at the trip at first, having envisioned another kind of vacation, but then decides a spiritual reset is calling her name too. And they can’t wait to see each other—surely, this is just what they both need.

But the trip is nothing like what they expect, from the appearance of Adam’s former love interest in their traveling group to the anxiety gripping Zayneb when she’s supposed to be “spiritual.” As one wedge after another drives them apart while they make their way through rites in the holy city, Adam and Zayneb start to wonder: was their meeting just an oddity after all? Or can their love transcend everything else like the greatest marvels of the world?

About the author

S. K. Ali is the author of Saints and Misfits, a finalist for the American Library Association’s 2018 William C. Morris Award and the winner of the APALA Honor Award and Middle East Book Honor Award; and Love from A to Z, a Today show’s Read with Jenna Book Club selection. Both novels were named best YA books of the year by various media including Entertainment Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. She is also the author of Misfit in Love. You can find Sajidah online at SKAlibooks.com and follow her on Instagram @SKAlibooks and on Twitter at @SajidahWrites.

S.K. Ali's profile page

Excerpt: Love from Mecca to Medina (by (author) S.K. Ali)

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