Set against the backdrop of Karachi, Pakistan, Saadia Faruqi's tender and honest middle grade novel tells the story of two girls navigating a summer of change and family upheaval with kind hearts, big dreams, and all the right questions.

Mimi isn’t thrilled about spending the summer in Karachi, Pakistan, with grandparents she’s never met. Secretly, she wishes she could find her long-lost father, and plans to write to him in her new, beautiful journal.

The cook’s daughter, Sakina, hasn’t told her parents that she’ll only be accepted into school if she can improve her English test score—but then, how could her family afford to lose the money she earns working with her Abba in a rich family’s kitchen?

Though the girls seem totally incompatible at first, as the summer goes on, Sakina and Mimi s

oon realize that they have a lot in common, and that each needs the other to get what they want most.

This empathetic and relatable story about two friends coming to understand one another will resonate with readers who loved Other Words for Home and The Takeout.