You Started It

Gr 9 Up–Khalilieh’s sophomore YA rom-com is a heartfelt, delightful story about Jamie Taher-Foster, a biracial Palestinian Canadian high school senior navigating a recent breakup with her boyfriend Ben Cameron. She’s started having feelings for Axel Dahini, the younger Lebanese boy she’s been fake dating after running over his bicycle. Readers will have no trouble relating to Jamie’s likable accident-prone, list-making nature and the way she isn’t afraid to rely on coping strategies, such as therapy and medication, to manage her anxiety disorder and IBS. Khalilieh creates an excellent balance between the complicated family relationships Jamie has with her mother and absentee father and some lighter comic moments of going on dates with Axel around their hometown of Toronto. With his golden retriever energy and loving Arab family, Axel shows Jamie how to try new things and embrace her identity in ways she never has before.