#sk ali

[violet-primroses]

Since z-library was taken down, here are screenshots from author SK Ali’s past Instagram stories

Pirating books leads to ends of authors.

[itsmunazza]

Adam and Zayneb for S.K. Ali ❄️💙🌨

[lastdaysofus]

Once upon an Eid / Sk Ali

[ninoquincampoix]

@projectliterature event 03 : adaptations — love from a to z

— maybe that’s what living is—recognizing the marvels and oddities around you.

[readingaway]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge, February - Fell In Love

Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali

I loved every second of the audiobook, immediately ordered a copy for myself and another for a friend, and they arrived today!!!

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

Review: Saints and Misfits by SK Ali  Rating: 5/5 

"I don’t want a single other girl to carry what’s only his. I’m shifting the shame. He needs to feel it."

Janna Yusuf just wants to be left alone. She wants to forget about her parents' divorce and the snide girls at school and the monster at her mosque who no one sees through but her. But her brother, Muhammad, has moved back into their 2-bedroom apartment. The girls at school are amping up their bullying. And now she's on a quiz team with the monster. Janna just wants peace but she's beginning to realise she'll have to fight for it.

Why, oh why, did I leave this languishing on my shelves for so long??? Saints and Misfits was fantastic. It's a wonderful contemporary to begin with - a more optimistic Speak, if I might be so bold - but it's also an amazing crash course in the day-to-day life of a Muslim teenager. I only knew a handful of things about Islam and Muslim culture but I feel like I have a much greater understanding now. Ali has developed such a lovely sense of community in this book and I loved seeing a diverse representation of different Muslim families too.

Janna is the shining light here. She's quite meek and unsure, to be honest, but it was lovely to see her build up her confidence over the course of the book. Her relationships with her friends and family were brilliantly drawn and fraught with complexity and I loved watching her learn to stand up for herself. I also really loved her friendship with Mr Ram, the elderly man she looked after.

I will admit, I found the plot line about her sexual assault quite hard to read. I didn't know about it going into the book and was caught a bit off-guard and then it was just so sad. Janna didn't feel she could tell anyone and had such a hard time dealing with it. The way she's treated when she does tell people is quite hard to read too but it all feels frustratingly authentic. There was one particular passage where Janna mentions not realising that Muslim boys could be predators too that just broke my heart.

A stunning book that, while covering topics many other YA contemporaries have covered in the past, feels incredibly fresh and new. I'm gonna have to track down SK Ali's other books because even though this was a hard read in places, it was utterly wonderful.

Warnings: coping with sexual assault, Islamophobia, misogyny.

[thepaige-turner]

Find this book sleeve and more at Sew Cal Girls’ shop, run by my mom and sister! 

[mydarlinginej]

From William C. Morris Award Finalist S.K. Ali comes an unforgettable romance that is part The Sun Is Also a Star mixed with Anna and the French Kiss , following two Muslim teens who meet during a spring break trip. A marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes—because they make French fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together. An oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are. But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. She’s angry. When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt’s house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break. Fueled by the guilt of getting her friends in trouble, she resolves to try out a newer, “nicer” version of herself in a place where no one knows her. Then her path crosses with Adam’s. Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam’s stopped going to classes, intent, instead, on perfecting the making of things. Intent on keeping the memory of his mom alive for his little sister. Adam’s also intent on keeping his diagnosis a secret from his grieving father. Alone, Adam and Zayneb are playing roles for others, keeping their real thoughts locked away in their journals. Until a marvel and an oddity occurs… Marvel: Adam and Zayneb meeting. Oddity: Adam and Zayneb meeting.