12 must-read August YA book releases to close out your summer
By Lacy Baugher
More Than Just a Pretty Face – Syed M. Masood
This romantic comedy debut from Syed Masood follows the story of Danyal, an optimistic 19-year-old Pakistani American who dreams of becoming a chef. He’s had a crush on his best friend Sohrab’s twin sister – Kaval – for years, but her family considers him a less than ideal choice for an arranged marriage.
Nevertheless, when he’s nominated for the school-wide Renaissance Man academic competition, Danyal hopes it will give him a chance to get closer to her. But when he seeks out the assistance of Bisma Akram – a fellow Winston Churchill expert – he realizes that there’s more to her than the girl he once met as an arranged marriage prospect. Their complex relationships with their families and religion provide new perspectives and an unexpected friendship, but will something else blossom as well?
The official synopsis has more details about the specifics of the story.
"Danyal Jilani doesn’t lack confidence. He may not be the smartest guy in the room, but he’s funny, gorgeous, and going to make a great chef one day. His father doesn’t approve of his career choice, but that hardly matters. What does matter is the opinion of Danyal’s longtime crush, the perfect-in-all-ways Kaval, and her family, who consider him a less than ideal arranged marriage prospect. When Danyal gets selected for Renaissance Man–a school-wide academic championship–it’s the perfect opportunity to show everyone he’s smarter than they think. He recruits the brilliant, totally-uninterested-in-him Bisma to help with the competition, but the more time Danyal spends with her…the more he learns from her…the more he cooks for her…the more he realizes that happiness may be staring him right in his pretty face"
More Than Just a Pretty Face is available on August 4.