Saints and Misfits is an unforgettable debut novel that feels like a modern day My So-Called Lifeβ¦starring a Muslim teen.
There are three kinds of people in my world:
1. Saints, those special people moving the world forward. Sometimes you glaze over them. Or, at least, I do. Theyβre in your face so much, you canβt see them, like how you canβt see your nose.
2. Misfits, people who donβt belong. Like meβthe way I donβt fit into Dadβs brand-new family or in the leftover one composed of Mom and my older brother, Mamaβs-Boy- Muhammad.
Also, thereβs Jeremy and me. Misfits. Because although, alliteratively speaking, Janna and Jeremy sound good together, we donβt go together. Same planet, different worlds.
But sometimes worlds collide and beautiful things happen, right?
3. Monsters. Well, monsters wearing saint masks, like in Flannery OβConnorβs stories.
Like the monster at my mosque.
People think heβs holy, untouchable, but nobody has seen under the mask.