THE LOVE MATCH

Teal background with clover like patterns. The Love Match written in white, red, and white on top, with “love” in the elaborate red script, gold running through it. My name in gold at the bottom. Three Bangladeshi characters with varying shades of brown skin take center stage. First is Harun in a green polo, brown Chinos, and loafers. He wears glasses and smiles shyly, holding Zahra’s red urna in one hand and a rose in the other. Zahra is in the center, smiling thoughtfully at readers, eyebrow raised, hair in loose waves around her face. She wears a green, red, gold, and yellow lehenga with a pattern similar to the background. Then there’s Nayim holding a guitar and beaming at her. He wears an open red shirt over a white shirt and green pants, as well as green Converse-style sneakers, his hair tied up in a bun. All three are beautifully painted on and show a glimpse of the vast diversity of the Bangladeshi diaspora identity.
U.S. edition. Art by Fahmida Azim, design by Sarah Creech

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To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets Pride and Prejudice in this delightful and heartfelt rom-com about a Bangladeshi American teen whose meddling mother arranges a match to secure their family’s financial security—just as she’s falling in love with someone else.

Zahra Khan is basically Bangladeshi royalty, but being a princess doesn’t pay the bills in Paterson, New Jersey. While Zahra’s plans for financial security this summer involve working long hours at Chai Ho and saving up for college writing courses, Amma is convinced that all Zahra needs is a “good match,” Jane Austen style.

Enter Harun Emon, who’s wealthy, devastatingly handsome, and…aloof. As soon as Zahra meets him, she knows it’s a bad match. It’s nothing like the connection she has with Nayim Aktar, the new dishwasher at the tea shop, who just gets Zahra in a way no one has before. So, when Zahra finds out that Harun is just as uninterested in this match as she is, they decide to slowly sabotage their parents’ plans. And for once in Zahra’s life, she can have her rossomalai and eat it too: “dating” Harun and keeping Amma happy while catching real feelings for Nayim.

But life—and boys—can be more complicated than Zahra realizes. With her feelings all mixed up, Zahra discovers that sometimes being a good Bengali kid can be a royal pain.

PRAISE FOR THE LOVE MATCH

Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

“Candid, textured, and amusing: a novel readers will devour in one sitting.“–Kirkus Starred Review