Everything Comes Back To You

Lennon has always tried to live up to her Palestinian Canadian father's exacting standards, even if her older sister hasn't, but when a crush on an older white boy develops into something more, she must find the strength to balance her own desires against her father’s expectations.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter meets The Sun Is Also a Star in this new YA novel.

Lennon is excited and apprehensive about starting high school, where her older sister is going to be a senior. Then her sister drops a bombshell: she is pregnant. Her Palestinian Canadian parents are devastated, and Lennon finds herself under even more pressure to be a "good girl” – a role autistic Lennon has always played well. But after a chance encounter with John, a white boy in the grade above, Lennon finds herself nursing a crush on someone her parents would definitely not approve of—which only seems to intrigue her more.

As Lennon and John are drawn together and pulled apart throughout her four years of high school, Lennon wrestles with feelings of shame and yearning, obedience and rebellion through the lens of her autism, trying to both please her parents and herself. When a relationship with a different boy challenges her notions of family and happiness, her way forward becomes clear, even if it might mean losing everything and everyone she loves.

• COMING OF AGE + ROMANCE FANS: For all those readers who prefer their YA love stories layered with a little deeper issues. 
• HONEST PORTAYAL OF WRESTLING WITH PARENTAL EXPECTATIONS: Lennon's struggle to be her own person in the face of her father's high expectations after her sister's "downfall" feels very true to life. 
• STANDOUT STORY: Taking place over the course of all four years of high school offers readers the chance to see how Lennon grows, as well as how she and John change throughout.
• NEURODIVERGENT MAIN CHARACTER: Lennon was given an autism diagnosis back in sixth grade and processes things that happen through that lens.

• WIDE REPRESENTATION: Lennon and her family are Palestinian Canadian — there are also other Arab, mixed race and white characters. 

• JACKIE'S PROFILE IS GROWING: With praise from Becky Albertalli and an invitation to attend 2025's YALLFest — not to mention her first starred review from School Library Journal — Jackie is growing her fan base.