Sway with Me

Living in Sacramento, Calif., with his nearly 100-year-old great-grandfather, kind, dutiful Arsalan Nizami, 17, is eager to find a fiancée. Since he doesn’t believe that the most eminent matchmaker in Northern California would take him on as a client, he approaches her stepdaughter Beenish “Beans” Siraj, who is Muslim and Pakistani American like him, instead. While Beans initially turns down Arsalan, she agrees to help him find a girlfriend—in exchange for Arsalan serving as her dance partner. While Beenish considers formerly homeschooled Arsalan to be a “Nerd Scout” and Arsalan thinks of Beenish as a “Newtonian force,” they find common ground in dancing and witty banter. Typical romantic misunderstandings move the rom-com plot along, but a strong sense of humor pervades Masood’s (More Than Just a Pretty Face) sophomore YA novel. References to Measure for Measure and The Epic of Gilgamesh abound, and a self-referential call-out—as the Desi uncle who wrote a novel called “something something Pretty Face”—adds a comedic meta layer, while Arsalan’s past serves as just the right amount of darkness to balance the light that Beenish brings into his life. Ages 14–up. (Nov.)