And it’s all happening on the grounds of this lakeside estate house right here that Dad bought and renovated last summer in grand fashion. In exactly two days he’s getting married to the love of his life, Sarah. And that he’s on the dock, throwing our two little half brothers into the lake, one by one, each time they scramble back onto the dock in turn saying, “Again!” I don’t need to lift my head to know that it’s my brother Muhammad. “Janna, are you talking to yourself again?” “Rumi said, ‘Only from the heart can you touch the sky,’?” I tell the sky, my eyes probing the blue expanse, my left hand pulling up my burkini pants, which are beginning to ride low again, their waistline weathered from overuse.

I spread my arms out in the lake and let my secret smile take over my face, remembering the words of the scholar and spiritual poet Rumi. Which means there are rules- but the rules will still lead to us being together. Now that I’m finished with school and will be starting college in the fall, I’m ready to actually tell Nuah that… that… well, I guess, that we can be a thing? I don’t know what else to call it when you say yes, I like you back to someone like Nuah, who’s interested in me, but also interested in following Islam. Nuah’s coming tomorrow-for the entire weekend.

I’m buoyed, but-secret smile-it’s not only because of the burkini. My burkini, almost all four yards of it, swells up around me and serves as a flotation device. Floating on my back, staring at the bluest sky there must have ever been in the history of blue skies. Janna’s summer of love is turning out to be super crowded and painfully unpredictable.

Just when things couldn’t get more complicated, two newcomers-the dreamy Haytham and brooding Layth-have Janna more confused than ever about what her misfit heart really wants. Muhammad’s party choices aren’t in line with his fiancée’s taste at all, Janna’s dad is acting strange, and her mom is spending more time with an old friend (and maybe love interest?) than Janna. It’s time for Janna’s (carefully planned) summer of love to begin-starting right at the wedding.īut it wouldn’t be a wedding if everything went according to plan. She’s finished high school, ready for college…and ready for Nuah. The last time she saw him, Janna wasn’t ready to reciprocate his feelings for her. Janna Yusuf is so excited for the weekend: her brother Muhammad’s getting married, and she’s reuniting with her mom, whom she’s missed the whole summer.Īnd Nuah’s arriving for the weekend too. In this fun and fresh sequel to Saints and Misfits, Janna hopes her brother’s wedding will be the perfect start to her own summer of love, but attractive new arrivals have her more confused than ever.

Saints and misfits book