Forty Words for Love
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
In this tender genre-bending young adult novel by New York Times bestselling author Aisha Saeed, two teen protagonists grow from friends to something more in the aftermath of a tragedy in their magical town.
Moonlight Bay is a magical place—or it was once. After a tragic death mars the town, the pink and lavender waters in the bay turn gray, and the forest that was a refuge for newcomers becomes a scourge to the townspeople. Almost overnight, the entire town seems devoid of life and energy. The tourists have stopped coming. And the people in the town are struggling.
This includes the two teens at the heart of our story: Yasmine and Rafay. Yasmine is a child of the town, and her parents are trying and failing to make ends meet. Rafay is an immigrant, a child of Willow Forest. The forest of Moonlight Bay was where people from Rafay’s community relocated when their home was destroyed. Except Moonlight Bay is no longer a welcoming refuge, and tensions between the townspeople and his people are growing.
Yasmine and Rafay have been friends since Rafay first arrived, nearly ten years ago. As they've gotten older, their friendship has blossomed. Not that they would ever act on these feelings. The forest elders have long warned that falling in love with "outsiders" will lead to devastating consequences for anyone from Willow Forest. But is this actually true? Can Yasmine and Rafay find a way to be together despite it all?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two teens navigate grief and first love in this romantic fantasy by Saeed (Omar Rising), set in a magical world. Moonlight Bay local Yas and Raf—who has a leaf-shaped birthmark and is part of the Golub people—have been friends since Raf and his family moved to town as climate refugees when he was young. Determined to confess his feelings for Yas, Raf seeks her out, only to catch her in a seemingly tender moment with Moses Holler, the heir of Moonlight Bay's most influential family. Raf later stumbles upon the corpse of five-year-old Sammy Holler, setting into motion a chain of events with disastrous implications for everyone in town. Moses and his family move away, taking with them the town's economic security, and the ocean, once a soothing pink and lavender, becomes a grimy gray. Thin worldbuilding deflate the intriguingly rendered landscape and a jam-packed plot stymie Yas and Raf's budding, Romeo and Juliet–esque romance. Still, skillful characterizations keep readers invested as Saeed weaves a tale of a grieving town on the brink of financial collapse and the resourceful, minimally described protagonists intent on saving it. Ages 12–up.
