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Like a Love Story

by Abdi Nazemian

Love, friendship, and visibility in 1989 New York

Regular price $15.24 USD
Regular price $25.40 USD Sale price $15.24 USD
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Paperback New English

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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    Stonewall Honor Book

    Stonewall Honor Book

  • Editorial selection

    A Time Magazine Best YA Book of All Time

    Named a Best YA Book of All Time

AlbakiReads Editorial

Love, friendship, and visibility in 1989 New York

Set against New York City in 1989, the novel brings three teenagers into the intertwined worlds of first romance, friendship, family expectations, and AIDS activism. Reza knows he is gay but fears being recognized; Judy is an aspiring fashion designer whose uncle is involved with ACT UP; and Art, openly gay at school, documents the crisis through photography. As Reza and Art grow closer while Reza is dating Judy, his struggle over honesty puts a valued friendship at stake. The story connects private questions of identity and loyalty with the public realities of the AIDS crisis, giving its coming-of-age relationships a distinct historical and social context.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teens and young adults interested in LGBTQ+ romance and coming-of-age stories.
  • Readers seeking fiction about friendship, identity, and family expectations.
  • Readers interested in a historical setting shaped by AIDS activism in 1980s New York.

Themes

LGBTQ+ identityFriendship and romanceHonesty and loyaltyAIDS activismFamily expectations

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Stonewall Honor Book * A Time Magazine Best YA Book of All Time

"A book for warriors, divas, artists, queens, individuals, activists, trend setters, and anyone searching for the courage to be themselves."--Mackenzi Lee, New York Times bestselling author of The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

It's 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing.

Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He's terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he's gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media's images of men dying of AIDS.

Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance...until she falls for Reza and they start dating.

Art is Judy's best friend, their school's only out and proud teen. He'll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs.

As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won't break Judy's heart--and destroy the most meaningful friendship he's ever known.

This is a bighearted, sprawling epic about friendship and love and the revolutionary act of living life to the fullest in the face of impossible odds.

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