Common Sense Media Review
By Lucinda Dyer
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Muslim teen girl stands up to assaulter in empowering tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
Janna Yusuf is balancing a lot in SAINTS AND MISFITS. Her non-religious Indian father and religious Egyptian mother are divorced, and her father has remarried. Her brother's dating the "the most perfect Muslim girl on the planet," while Janna has a crush on a non-Muslim boy named Jeremy. She has one life with a group of culturally diverse friends at her high school and another with her friends at the local mosque. And Janna has a secret she's been keeping from all of them. Farouq, a young man everyone at her mosque considers a saint, tried to sexually assault her and now seems to be turning up everywhere she goes. When she refuses to have anything to do with him, he retaliates by videotaping her talking with Jeremy and sending it to her friends and brother. She knows she needs to fight back and expose Farouq for who he really is, but will anyone believe her?
Is It Any Good?
This empowering multicultural coming-of-age story uses engaging and relatable teen characters to take on big issues of faith, identity, and sexual assault. Saints and Misfits introduces readers to characters in an ethnically and religiously diverse American community with whom they'll have much in common.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Muslim teens are portrayed in Saints and Misfits. Does Janna's high school life seem pretty much like that of any other teen? Would a girl wearing a hijab be as readily accepted in your school as Janna is in hers?
Several girls post photos on Facebook they know will be hurtful to Janna. Do you think people who post false or hurtful things on social media should be held accountable? Why, or why not?
If you knew someone considered a "saint" was actually a "monster," would you speak out? Who would you tell? What if no one believed you?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Coming of Age
- Topics : Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Friendship , School ( High School )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Salaam Reads
- Publication date : June 13, 2017
- Number of pages : 325
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (abridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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