Book Description
for I Miss You, I Hate This by Sara Saedi
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
When best friends Parisa and Gabriela’s senior year is disrupted by a pandemic, schools—and their friendship—must go virtual, especially when it becomes clear that young adults are most susceptible to the virus. Iranian American Parisa can’t believe it when a classmate across the street hosts a party. In the aftermath, Andrew, once a close friend, gets sick and dies. Parisa becomes a recluse, afraid to go outside; aside from her family, her only connections are virtual, mostly with Gabriela and her older sister’s boyfriend, Gideon. Gideon is helping her with her college essay and … flirting with her? Staying home isn’t an option for Mexican American Gabriela: Saving for college and helping out her two moms, she can’t afford not to work. No one is more surprised than Gabriela when she and Wes—a third member of their friendship group that once included Andrew—fall in love. A touch, let alone a kiss, seems impossible, but they look for ways to be physically close while following reasonable precautions. In a story that alternates between the two young women’s points of view and includes numerous text exchanges, so much is out of these teens’ control, making the things they can control and the choices they make all the more important. The relationship arcs and personal dramas include feelings and misunderstandings that are inevitably amplified by the stress of extraordinary circumstances in a story sure to resonate with many contemporary readers. (Age 14 and older)
CCBC Choices 2023. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2023. Used with permission.