FOUR EIDS AND A FUNERAL

Tragedy reunites estranged childhood friends.

When Ms. Barnes, his beloved hometown librarian, dies, Said Hossain’s older sister, Safiyah, picks him up from boarding school a week before summer vacation so he can return home to Vermont for the funeral. The somber occasion puts Said back in contact with childhood friend Tiwa Olatunji, who hasn’t forgiven him for leaving her and their community behind. Thrust back together, Said and Tiwa must reconcile their past while dealing with current challenges, which include saving the local Islamic center (after being damaged by a fire on the day of Ms. Barnes’ funeral, it’s now slated to be torn down and replaced with apartments), ensuring that the upcoming community Eid celebration can go off without a hitch, and figuring out how to heal their friendship and move forward as romantic feelings grow between them. Told from Said’s and Tiwa’s alternating first-person perspectives, the narrative successfully transitions between the co-authors’ equally strongly executed chapters. The engaging writing tackles grief, anti-Black racism within the Muslim community, and the teens’ navigating and reconciling parental expectations with personal dreams. The characters reflect the lived diversity of the American Muslim community: Said is Bangladeshi American, while Tiwa, who’s Black, is Nigerian American; lesbian Safiyah embarks on a sweet relationship with another girl from the Islamic center.

A love story that successfully blends the lighthearted with the serious to demonstrate the power of community.