Yes No Maybe So

By: Becky Albertalli, Aisha Saeed

Narrated by: Tiya Sircar, Michael Crouch

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

An audiobook about the power of love and resistance from New York Times best-selling authors Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed.

YES 

Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate - as long as he’s behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let’s face it, speaking at all to almost anyone) Jamie’s a choke artist. There’s no way he’d ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes...until he meets Maya. 

NO 

Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is canceled, and now her parents are separating. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing - with some awkward dude she hardly knows - is beyond her. 

MAYBE SO 

Going door to door isn’t exactly glamorous, but maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer - and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural crush of the century is another thing entirely.

©2020 Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Narrating alternating chapters, Michael Crouch and Tiya Sircar are just as appealing as the pair of Georgia teens they portray.... Crouch is endearingly awkward as Jamie, who's nervous about knocking on doors - but that's nothing compared to the idea of giving a speech at his little sister's bat mitzvah. Sircar conveys Maya's sunny personality as well as her vulnerability as she struggles with her parents' separation during Ramadan while also feeling estranged from her best friend.... Listeners will be equally invested in the progression of Jamie and Maya's relationship and the outcome of the election." (AudioFile Magazine)

Great read!

This has a lot of elements going on and I thought it was well done. The main characters both dealt with discrimination based on their religions, one Jewish, one Muslim. The political aspect was also prominent and the explanation of our current climate was spot on and perfect. Using Bowser and the Koopa Troopers to explain Trump and all the lower rung racists in power was brilliant. I think a lot of teenagers feel the way Maya and Jamie feel. Trapped in this new world where racism is okay because a leader says it is and unable to do much about it because they can't vote and a general feeling of helplessness.

The friendship and romance were fun and cute, but the best part for me was the political aspect. What a relevant and relatable book!

If you aren't a democrat or don't support the Muslim religion, this book is probably not for you.

Light fun audio book on serious timely issues

Listened to this books over the course of a few weeks of running. It was entertaining enough to keep my attention during the early days of the pandemic (when nothing was). I love Muslim culture and that the book weaves it into current politics, us v them mentalities, social media frenzies, and all with a light, friendly coming of age story.

Swoon worthy

This story had me smiling and laughing while listening. Albertalli nails it again and I’m a new fan of Saeed! Instantly relatable they capture the inner voice of a young adult so well.

Tiya Sicar did a great job voicing Maya! Michael Crouch will always be one of my favorite narrators. If you like him in this book I recommend checking out the other books he’s done work on, he always works on interesting and well written books!

Cute story with an important message

When I first started the book, I didn't think I was going to like it. I put it away for a few days and came back to it with a fresh ear and I really enjoyed it. It's a story of friendship, love and local political elections. It's a good read.

4 🌟 For This Great Contemporary

I really enjoyed this book. The characters and detail were wonderful and I loved the concept! executed pretty great!

Confusing religious connotations

The story is sweet and the protagonists were fighting for a great cause. But it really was slanted politically because not all conservatives are prejudice. In fact, most of them aren’t so the author should stress this.This is something that is more of a problem with the south more than the whole country. The story is correct politics has divided all of America between left and right and that must stop. Maybe there needs to be a purple political party.

AMAZING

So many ups and downs but such a good ending it’s a amazing book and I definitely recommend so much diversity and realism

Uncomfortable

I didn't realize when I bought this book that the main characters were minors. It feels creepy to listen to a book about a teenage romance. The cultural, political, and technological references are current. The story wasn't unpleasant, just uncomfortable for me.

Disappointing

I have loved the two books that I have read that Becky Albertalli has written (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and What If It's Us) and was sadly very disappointed by this book. I wanted to like it so badly. I kept putting it down and picking it up for months and months, but I was not able to finish it and typically I finish all the books I read whether or not I like them...so it was just a sad situation.

I LOVE IT

such a great story! i really learned a lot, but i love that their was innocent romance as well & i felt connected to the beautiful awkwardness of it all:) so empowering!