Love, Hate and Other Filters Kindle Edition

This debut novel by Samira Ahmed is one all teens need to read- not only does it cover love, longing, restrictive parents, Islamophobia, and bullying but Maya's life rings true as the only Indian and Muslim in her school, parents who came to America but have not really progressed as Americans-they are successful without being devout, and are suffocating in their love and expectations for their only child. Thank god Maya has a close friend in Violet, a job she loves at a book store and her trusty camcorder which helps Maya see the world as a worthy documentary to be filmed, cataloged and kept for posterity. As a senior, Maya has not told her parents she wants to go to film school yet has applied and been accepted to NYU. Maya has been crushing on Phil since 7th grade and with his break-up maybe Maya will have a chance now. I really liked Phil, Violet, and Maya's aunt, Hina ( a successful graphic designer, has not married and so so supportive of Maya) and the positive changes and strength Maya garners when there is a hate crime perpetrated close to home, make this a must read for teens. Highly recommended.

This was a phenomenal debut. The characters, plot, and prose are easy to follow and fast paced. This book is perfect for fans of Anna and the French Kiss, When Dimple Met Rishi, and Dear Martin. This novel unpacks a lot but also has cute romance and friendship moments. I only wished that there was more time to flesh out the second half of the book.*Content warning for emotional cheating and Islamophobia*

Teen love and real world drama collide in this fantastic YA coming of age story.Maya is a high school senior with a passion for film-making, trying to convince her over protective parents to let her go to New York University for film rather than go to college closer to home. She's also trying to manage her crush on the popular football star, who gets brought into her life through a school project. Their friendship grows into something more, and it seems everything is going to work out great for her.Then a terrorist attack in their state brings harsh scrutiny to Muslims across the US, and to Maya's family in particular due to their being the only Brown people in the small town, and an unfortunate coincidence that links them to the suspect. Maya struggles with her parents' fears for her safety and the aftermath of the event making things weird with her crush. She must also face a classmate with a grudge against all Muslims who becomes radicalized by the attack...On a slightly spoiler-y note, I like how the attack is handled. [Spoiler: the Muslim American initially believed to have conducted the attack was actually an innocent victim and a white supremacist was the terrorist responsible.] This is much more in line with actual terrorist incidents in the US, and reminded me of the Oklahoma City bombing which was initially blamed on Muslim terrorists before white supremacist Timothy McVeigh was identified. The classmate who attacks Maya because his older brother became an amputee in Iraq was also on point. The book reflects an American experience where Brown, Muslim, immigrant and other minority groups are always suspect even when white supremacy is the true culprit.The heavy issues aren't as central as the coming of age and love story, however, and it all comes out so beautifully. I will be on the lookout for anything else Samira Ahmed publishes.

Cinematic, realistic, sensitive portrayal of a girl bound by her family's traditions, yet determined to find her authentic self. Maya rebels against what she sees as her parents' unfair, unrealistic expectations for her love life and her career goals (she wants to be a filmmaker, not a lawyer), but in the end, she finds a comfortable compromise that maintains her self-respect and her respect for her parents, even if she doesn't always agree with their cultural impositions. The romance in this story is heated, but not too hot (no graphic sex at all, since the author is as respectful of teens as Maya herself!), so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to my students, ages 12 and up. A beautiful girl, Maya will become your fictional friend, someone to admire and inspire, as she enlightens all of us about the balancing act of the "hyphenated American" life between two cultures.

This book has so much heart. It's impossible not to relate to Maya's story: she is every American teenage girl: getting crushes, dreaming big dreams, giggling with her best friend and wishing her parents could be just a little more clued in. But when an unrelated tragedy occurs several towns over, she and her family become the brunt of horrible and unforgivable racism and anti-Muslim sentiment. This book is so important for so many reasons, but most of all because it humanizes the victims of hate speech and hate crimes. Maya's voice sparkles with wit and humanity, and Ahmed's writing crackles with tension, romance, and life. This book is for anyone who's felt ostracized...but more so, it's for anyone who's ever thought of anyone with a different religion or skin tone as something less than or other than human. They're the ones who need this book the most. It should be required reading in every high school.

i liked the beginning but after reading a few chapters it got bored of it, later i just forced my self to read the rest, the near ending of the book was pretty okay. 6/10

First of all, I loved that Maya, a brown woman, was being pursued by two men, rather than simply pining after them. I loved that the most prominent white character, Violet, was a solid ally who knew how to use her privilege. I found the dialogue at times to be unrealistic in terms of how teens actually speak, but LOVED the vignettes in between chapters giving context to the attack. I wish more books like this existed when I was an actual young adult, but it’s still a good read as an older person.