Booklist Reviews 2023 March #2
Four kids, one fast-paced night, and an opportune mystery: this middle-grade novel hits the ground running from the very first page. A storm grounds flights at Zora Neale Hurston Airport, leaving hundreds of Muslims departing an Islamic conference stranded. Among them are four incredible kids: Feek, longing to be a spoken-word artist (like his famous dad) but relegated to babysitting his sister; Hanna (sister of readers’ treasured Adam from Love from A to Z, 2019), searching for Snickerdoodle, a cat that went missing at the airport; Sami, the reserved kid who is never picked first; and Nora, always expected to be poised as the daughter of a congresswoman. In a single night and despite occasional tension, the quad rallies around a common goal: finding Snickerdoodle. In alternating points of view, the four authors—who collaborated on Once upon an Eid (2020)—have crafted a book that, while it brims with unapologetic Muslim rep, is about not religion but friendship and adventure. Sometimes their parents don’t get them, but trust and communication abound. Hand to readers seeking a quick escape. Grades 3-6.