After thoroughly enjoying S.K. Ali's Saints and Misfits and admiring Ali as a professional human on Twitter, I was very excited to pick up her next book. After waiting eons at the library for a copy, Love From A to Z more than met my personal hype.

Using the frame of a narrative adaptation of the characters' Marvels and Oddities journals, Love from A to Z follows the story of one life-changing spring break for activist Zayneb and the artistic Adam. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), Adam knows he must re-evaluate his priorities in life. And tell his father, who is still grieving his wife. The wife and mother who died of MS complications. Meanwhile, Zayneb has had enough of her Islamaphobic, racist teacher, Fencer. He's constantly framing lessons around hate, and when he catches Zayneb doodling an #EatHimAlive hashtag, he uses it as an excuse to suspend her. Worried, her parents send her to Doha to stay with her aunt, and Zayneb has to decide: what is the smartest way to fight back?

Needless to say, Love from A to Z packs a whallop. There are discussions of micro-aggressions, hate crimes, drone bombings, and how evil is passed on from one generation to another. As a break from that, we have discussions of family grief, sickness, disability, and some legitimately scary MS flare-ups. Ali proudly labels her book a love story, but it certainly isn't just a love story. It's a story about justice, triumph, connection, and healing too. I immensely enjoyed the characters and was invested in their struggles from the get-go.

Love from A to Z is a relentlessly rewarding book and a true inspiration in these times. Get on this!