Everything Comes Back to You
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Lennon has always tried to live up to her Palestinian Canadian father's exacting standards, even if her older sister hasn't, but when a crush on an older white boy develops into something more, she must find the strength to balance her own desires against her father’s expectations.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter meets The Sun Is Also a Star in this new YA novel.
Lennon is excited and apprehensive about starting high school, where her older sister is going to be a senior. Then her sister drops a bombshell: she is pregnant. Her Palestinian Canadian parents are devastated, and Lennon finds herself under even more pressure to be a "good girl” – a role autistic Lennon has always played well. But after a chance encounter with John, a white boy in the grade above, Lennon finds herself nursing a crush on someone her parents would definitely not approve of—which only seems to intrigue her more.
As Lennon and John are drawn together and pulled apart throughout her four years of high school, Lennon wrestles with feelings of shame and yearning, obedience and rebellion through the lens of her autism, trying to both please her parents and herself. When a relationship with a different boy challenges her notions of family and happiness, her way forward becomes clear, even if it might mean losing everything and everyone she loves.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Spanning four years of high school, this complex romance epic from Khalilieh (You Started It) follows an autistic Palestinian Canadian teen's hard-won journey toward self-understanding and independence. Just before starting ninth grade, Lennon Hadid learns that her older sister, Georgie, is pregnant, a revelation that sends shock waves through their image-conscious family. Lennon and Georgie grew up under the weight of their immigrant parents' expectations, particularly their father's insistence on preserving the family's reputation within their Christian community in Toronto. This pressure becomes particularly overwhelming as Lennon enters high school, and she experiences loneliness, struggles to navigate social situations, and confronts her long-suppressed desire for romance. When she forms an easy connection with popular sophomore John Brody during a school trip, her attraction for him deepens despite complications around John's existing relationship and her father's preference that she date churchgoing family friend Theo Petropolis, whom he views as a more suitable match. Candid discussions of masking are especially striking, and skillful explorations of class differences, alcohol dependency, and slut-shaming organically twine with the central romance. Grounded in astute emotional insight, this intelligent work offers a memorable portrayal of first love. Ages 14–up.
