So long as they stick to their rulebook for fake dating, Hani and Ishu should have no problem convincing their fellow classmates that they’re an item.
Title: Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating
Author: Adiba Jaigirdar
ISBN: 978-1645672579
Publisher: Page Street Publishing
Publication date: 2021
Genre(s): Contemporary, romance
Available format(s): Print, audio. I reviewed the print version.
Reading level/interest level: Age 14 and up, according to Amazon
Summary: Hani and Ishu are both Bangladeshi-Irish teens, but the similarities stop there. Hani is friendly, popular, and always down to go with the flow, while Ishu is a high-strung, solitary nerd with a need to achieve. But when Hani’s friends doubt that she’s bisexual because she’s only ever crushed on boys, she realizes she needs to dream up an imaginary girlfriend, and the first name that comes to mind is… Ishu.
At first, Ishu is less than thrilled at being used, but she soon realizes that being publicly seen as Hani’s girlfriend could boost her popularity and help her secure the title of Head Girl, since her sister was never able to.
As they fake-date and carry on the pretense of a relationship, though, both girls find themselves wanting something real. To get there, the pair must navigate identity issues, cultural expectations, and real feelings together.
About the author: Like her two romantic leads, Adiba Jaigirdar (she/her) is also Bangladeshi and Irish. She is a former educator, holds a Master’s degree in Postcolonial Studies, and is the author of four books (and counting!) for young adults.
Critical review: As a bisexual South Asian person, I definitely related to Hani in her encounters with biphobia and struggles to have her sexuality believed and validated by others. I could also relate to Ishu’s deep-seated need to make her family proud through her academic achievements and ambitions. I appreciated that both main characters had aspects of their personalities I could recognize in myself, which made the story more relatable for me. I also appreciate that Hani and Ishu’s respective parents are shown to have different parenting styles; Hani’s are more free-spirited, and Ishu’s are decidedly less so. The inclusion of both kinds of characters affirms that families are different even within the same culture and prevents the book from contributing to a singular stereotype about South Asian parents as strict and overbearing. As I did with Hani and Ishu, readers might find that their own parents possess combinations of these characteristics.
However, while the characters were relatable and mostly believable, I was less convinced by their motivations for fake-dating. In the end, I guess it doesn’t really matter, as the very title indicates that this will be a tropey read, and it was, but fairly enjoyable all the same.
Related programming ideas: Hani and Ishu’s families know each other because they are frequently invited to the same Bengali “dawats,” or dinner parties. The library could host a dawat, and it would be especially fun to do so around a major holiday, such as Eid-al-Fitr.
Brief booktalk: So long as they stick to their rulebook for fake dating, Hani and Ishu should have no problem convincing their fellow classmates that they’re an item, so each can succeed in their respective goal of maintaining their credibility or snagging the Head Girl title. But as they start to catch real feelings, the harder goal will be convincing themselves that they’re not meant for each other, or risk causing a stir in their Bengali-Irish community.
Potential challenges: The book may be challenged for its portrayal between a queer relationship, and/or for its discussions about the Muslim or Hindu faiths in the Bengali culture (especially by xenophobes).
Reason for inclusion: Personally, I think we need more sapphic love stories in all YA collections, so I’m excited to include one in mine! I haven’t seen wlw books make the same splash as mlm books often do, but I hope that changes.
References:
Jaigirdar, A. (n.d.). Media kit. https://adibajaigirdar.com/mediakit
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