Sway with Me

September 1, 2021
Arsalan Nizami is looking for love. Seventeen-year-old Arsalan has a lot to consider: Apart from contemplating an arranged marriage, he's integrating into a public high school after being home-schooled and is suddenly meeting peers who use 21st-century references in their conversations, a big change from his etymology-obsessed great-grandfather Nana's passion for Old English. The Sacramento teen is also looking for a rishta aunty, hoping a matchmaker can secure his future before his 100-year-old Nana passes away. Having lost his mother in a car accident two years ago, and not being on good terms with his abusive, alcoholic, absentee father, Arsalan is alone with Nana as his only real family. Enter Beenish "Beans" Siraj, his free spirit of a classmate who is also Muslim and Pakistani American. Beans has a proposal for Arsalan. If he helps her out by being her dance partner, part of a special plan she has to disrupt her sister's wedding, she will set him up with dates in exchange. Masood has crafted each of his characters with care, using them to explore topics such as grief, domestic violence, divorce, addiction, and religious differences. Despite the seriousness of these subjects, Arsalan's hapless, earnest, and socially na�ve narration adds humor and lightness to this story of finding your place in the world despite feeling like a misfit. An evocative, charming tale of two types of families, the one you are born into and the one you choose. (Fiction. 13-18)

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October 1, 2021

Gr 7 Up-A story of Desi friendship, family, honor, love, and dancing. Seventeen-year-old Pakistani American Arsalan Nizami has lived with his great-grandfather, "Nana," since his mother's death. Raised with contempt for technology and modern pop culture, the teen is bright, but friendless and awkward. When he meets Beenish Siraj, nicknamed "Beans," who enrolls him in a dance competition, the two clash constantly because they come from different worlds. But as they grow closer, they see that they also share similarities. For example, Beans no longer talks to her mom, and Arsalan is away from his alcoholic and abusive father. Beans opens up Arsalan's social circle, not only through dancing but also by introducing him to new people and 21st-century culture. Though the story starts slow, the plot eventually gains momentum and each individual is fully developed into a complex character. There is much discussion of the Desi Muslim community in America and some of its internal conflicts. The family and friendship issues discussed in this book are deep and layered, which makes for a very well-developed story. VERDICT A great purchase for libraries, especially those serving Desi communities and collections where there are gaps in representation.-Carol Youssif, Taipei American Sch., Taiwan

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Starred review from October 25, 2021
Living in Sacramento, Calif., with his nearly 100-year-old great-grandfather, kind, dutiful Arsalan Nizami, 17, is eager to find a fiancée. Since he doesn’t believe that the most eminent matchmaker in Northern California would take him on as a client, he approaches her stepdaughter Beenish “Beans” Siraj, who is Muslim and Pakistani American like him, instead. While Beans initially turns down Arsalan, she agrees to help him find a girlfriend—in exchange for Arsalan serving as her dance partner. While Beenish considers formerly homeschooled Arsalan to be a “Nerd Scout” and Arsalan thinks of Beenish as a “Newtonian force,” they find common ground in dancing and witty banter. Typical romantic misunderstandings move the rom-com plot along, but a strong sense of humor pervades Masood’s (More Than Just a Pretty Face) sophomore YA novel. References to Measure for Measure and The Epic of Gilgamesh abound, and a self-referential call-out—as the Desi uncle who wrote a novel called “something something Pretty Face”—adds a comedic meta layer, while Arsalan’s past serves as just the right amount of darkness to balance the light that Beenish brings into his life. Ages 14–up.

February 25, 2022
Grades 9-12 Arsalan knows he sticks out in his new high school after years of being home schooled by his great-grandfather, which is just one reason he seeks out his classmate Beenish. He hopes Beenish will connect him to her stepmother, a matchmaker who might be able to offer him what he's been looking for--a guarantee that he won't always be alone. Instead, Beenish offers him a trade; if he agrees to be her partner in a dance competition, she'll find him a girlfriend. Sway With Me is a rom-com through and through, which means there's not a lot of suspense, but plenty of sweetness. What makes this novel distinctive among other YA tales of love is its truly original protagonist. It's not just Arsalan's extensive vocabulary or his difficulty with pop culture references that makes him stand out but also his his earnest desire to be kind. Masood's Desi tale will have rom-com fans grinning from start to finish and could even create some converts to the genre.

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