I miss you, I hate this / Sara Saedi.

Select an Action

Title:

I miss you, I hate this / Sara Saedi.

Author:

Saedi, Sara, author.

ISBN:

9780316629829

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

345 pages ; 22 cm

Abstract:

Best friends Parisa Naficy and Gabriela Gonzales grapple with the complexities of their relationship even while they spend their senior year apart due to a pandemic that disproportionately affects young people.

Parisa Naficy, an earnest and privileged Iranian American, struggles to live up to her own impossible standards. Gabriela Gonzales, a cynical Mexican American, has all the confidence Parisa lacks but none of the financial stability. Despite their differences, as soon as they met on the first day of freshman year, they share an "us versus the world" mentality. Whatever the future had in store for them-- the pressure to get good grades, the litany of family dramas, and the heartbreak of unrequited love-- they faced it together. Until a global pandemic forces everyone into lockdown. Suddenly senior year doesn't look anything like they hoped it would, and their friendship is tested during this time of crisis. -- adapted from jacket

Reading Level:

Ages 14 & up. Little, Brown and Company.

Subject Term:

Epidemics -- Juvenile fiction.

Quarantine -- Juvenile fiction.

Best friends -- Juvenile fiction.

Friendship -- Juvenile fiction.

Social classes -- Juvenile fiction.

Iranian Americans -- Juvenile fiction.

Mexican Americans -- Juvenile fiction.

High school students -- Fiction.

Epidemics -- Fiction.

Quarantine -- Fiction.

Best friends -- Fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

Social classes -- Fiction.

Iranian Americans -- Fiction.

Mexican Americans -- Fiction.

Genre:

Realistic fiction.

Fictional Work

Novels. (OCoLC)fst01921742

School fiction.

Psychological fiction.

Novels.

Young adult fiction.

Romans.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library	Teen Fiction Book Hardback	120791003007621	T SAE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Five Feet Apart meets Kate in Waiting in this timely story of two best friends navigating the complexities of friendship while their world is turned upside down by a global pandemic, from the author of Americanized : Rebel Without a Green Card .

The lives of high school seniors Parisa Naficy and Gabriela Gonzales couldn't be more different. Parisa, an earnest and privileged Iranian American, struggles to live up to her own impossible standards. Gabriela, a cynical Mexican American, has all the confidence Parisa lacks but none of the financial stability. She can't help but envy Parisa's posh lifestyle whenever she hears her two moms argue about money. Despite their differences, as soon as they met on the first day of freshman year, they had an "us versus the world" mentality. Whatever the future had in store for them--the pressure to get good grades, the litany of family dramas, and the heartbreak of unrequited love--they faced it together. Until a global pandemic forces everyone into lockdown. Suddenly senior year doesn't look anything like they hoped it would. And as the whole world is tested during this time of crisis, their friendship will be, too.

With equal parts humor and heart, Parisa's and Gabriela's stories unfold in a mix of prose, text messages, and emails as they discover new dreams, face insecurities, and confront their greatest fears.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

A fictional pandemic places two Los Angeles high school seniors' lives on hold in this timely novel by Saedi (Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card). Iranian American Harvard hopeful Parisa and best friend Gabriela, a Mexican American artist, have always made as much time for each other as they could between extracurriculars and after-school jobs. But when a global virus forces them into quarantine, they find themselves spending their final year of high school stuck in their homes, unable to see each other before imminent adulthood separates them. As the girls adjust to their new normal, Parisa's anxiety disorder worsens and Gabriela--who has always wondered about the extended family who cut themselves off from her mothers before her birth--feels more isolated than ever. Despite these stressors, the distance makes space for the teens' tertiary relationships to flourish, including Gabriela's long-simmering crush and Parisa's slowly thawing dynamic with her older sister. Alternating perspectives interspersed with text messages and email threads, all rendered in realistic teen voices, chronicle their lives from the start of senior year to graduation, resulting in an emotionally layered novel that earnestly demonstrates how life continues moving forward. Ages 14--up. Agent: Jessica Regel, Helm Literary. (Oct.)

Kirkus Review

Two best friends navigate life and love as the world teeters on the brink of disaster. Parisa Naficy--a well-off, Harvard-bound, Iranian American valedictorian--has a privileged life, but she's consumed by extreme anxiety that she unsuccessfully attempts to hide. Beautiful, cool Mexican American Gabriela Gonzales leads a financially precarious existence with her lesbian moms and is haunted by their pasts; both women are estranged from their families due to their sexuality. The girls balance parental and cultural expectations with their own dreams. Their unlikely friendship withstood years of high school drama, but when the fictional ademavirus becomes a global pandemic disproportionately affecting young people, life as they know it is put on indefinite hold. The isolation brings out the best and worst in people, forcing both girls to reexamine themselves, their relationships, and what they value most as they work toward a new normal. Saedi's sensitive, witty writing style, both personable and deeply personal, makes this work more than yet another Covid fictionalization. The narration includes text message and email threads, reflecting the breakdowns of time and communication experienced in lockdown. The heavy subject matter is masterfully handled, juxtaposing raw episodes of sickness, loss, grief, and strained bonds with heartwarming conversations and budding relationships that shine a welcome light of hope into the darkness of uncertainty. Memorable and beautifully vulnerable. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Parisa and Gabriela are seniors and besties who are as different as can be. Parisa is a privileged Iranian American girl who suffers from anxiety. Gabriela, of Mexican American heritage, loves to create art and wishes her two moms didn't have to struggle with work and bills. The girls' senior year comes to an unexpected halt when Adema-22, a virus that primarily affects the young, becomes a global pandemic and shuts down society. The girls' friendship experiences ups and downs during their forced separation, during which they communicate through texts and video chats; both feel stretched to their limits when misunderstandings can't be resolved in person. Timely in its address of pandemic conditions, cautions, and attitudes, this is sure to resonate with teens who have grappled with anxiety, isolation, or ambivalence during COVID-19. Told in alternating points of view, the story is supportive of teens' complicated feelings and mental-health issues, while being realistic in its incorporation of the demands placed on essential workers versus those who are able to work from home.