All My Rage

This is a devastating, thought-provoking, and moving story of grief, loss, first love, and prejudice in a small town. Sabaa Tahir is best known as the best-selling author of the Ember in the Ashes series, but here she will wow readers with her gorgeous contemporary fiction writing, her creation of a realistic setting, characters, and personal challenges. Noor and Sal's story (individually and together) can be difficult to get through, because they are each dealing with nightmarish homelives filled with tragedy and fear. But the story is also about Salahudin and Noor's unbreakable (shakeable, yes, but not severable) bond. They are more than friends -- not simply because of the simmering romantic longing they feel for each other, but also because of their shared sense of otherness; their sense of grief over Sal's beloved mom/Noor's Misbah Auntie; their complementary academic interests (he thrives in English language arts, she's a star STEM student); and their different but integral relationships with their faith community.

Sometimes when an acclaimed writer switches genres, readers have reason to be wary, but in this case Tahir does a fabulous job mastering realistic contemporary YA fiction, which can be even harder than crafting fantasy worlds. Pop culture references, particularly music, play a large role in the story -- with Noor always listening to custom playlists that reflect her mood or cause nostalgia. The romance doesn't fit the typical friends-to-more trajectory, because both Noor and Sal live with serious mental health and family issues, and they already kissed once before the events of the book start. The love story is beautiful but alternately messy and agonizing. Readers should keep faith, though, because as with Elias and Laia, Tahir knows how to honor true love.