Yes, No, Maybe So

Jamie is Jewish and Maya is Muslim, but when they are thrown together knocking on doors for their local Democrat candidate and fighting against a racist bill, they soon discover they have lots in common. Awkward-but-sweet Jamie falls for Maya fast, but Maya isn’t allowed to date and she’s not in the mood anyway - her parents are divorcing and she’s growing painfully away from old friends.

The chemistry between the two works perfectly but this is so much more than a love story: it nails the feelings of young adults unable to vote but desperate to fight for a better future. “It’s like living with fire in my chest… Everything feels huge and momentous and terrifyingly real.” The insight into the machinery of American elections is fascinating and Jamie’s younger sister Sophie steals the show.

This is a sharp, contemporary and totally relevant story, full of hope but without illusions. As Jamie says: “there’s nothing like the futility of being seventeen in an election year” but as he also says, “it’s about the act of resisting.”