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Jamie Goldberg would like to be able to change the world. He’d enjoy running for office. But speaking to and in front of people ends with him choking. So he’s just fine helping his cousin, the assistant campaign manager for a candidate running for state senator, behind the scenes. When his cousin asks him to go door to door stumping for the candidate, that’s a definite no — until he gets paired up with Maya Rehman, a beautiful girl he hasn’t seen since they were kids playing together.
Maya, for her part, isn’t too happy about anything at the moment. Her year-older best friend is headed off to college and away from her; her parents have announced they’re separating, and the family trip is canceled. But her mother tells her she may be able to swing getting her a car if Maya helps out with the political campaign, so she goes along with the canvassing plan.
Jamie and Maya do go door to door, and as they spend a lot of time together on the campaign, they build a friendship. And they learn just how important this campaign is: The incumbent has introduced a bill banning head coverings, which impacts Maya’s life, as she is Muslim and her mother wears hijab. The story takes place during the month of Ramadan and while Jamie’s younger sister is getting ready for her bat mitzvah. These two young people are navigating life as ethnic minorities, facing prejudice and racism and misunderstandings. But they learn from each other and learn about just how much they can make a difference, even just at age 17.
And, of course, the story is a romance, so they fall for each other and figure out if and how they can even be together given the different expectations of their cultures and families.
Yes No Maybe So is a nice story about the development of a friendship and more between two teens. It’s also decidedly political: The characters are working for a Democratic candidate who’s running against a straight-up evil Republican. The authors say they based this very much on what was going on in their home state of Georgia as they wrote, and it lays bare some ugly truths about what some narrow-minded people (in places of power and otherwise) are capable of. But it basically paints all Republicans with the same brush, with characters talking about them pretty much as “impossible to understand” and backwards/horrible/racist/etc. for supporting any Republican candidates. This is disappointing because I feel it further contributes to the division in this country along political lines. While it’s important to appreciate the stories of ethnic minorities, and this is an important contribution, I just wasn’t comfortable with the hero/villain black-and-white tone, so it left a bad taste in my mouth, which is sad, because I did enjoy reading about these teens and their families’ cultures and experiences. (Note: I consider myself a moderate, leaning toward Republican, for what it’s worth, and my immediate family is multiracial, so I’m sensitive to these topics. I’d just like to see less “other-ness” perpetuated.)
Rated: High, for profanity: about 25 uses of strong language, about 20 instances of moderate profanity, a dozen uses of mild language, and about 50 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes a couple of making-out scenes.
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