Best Selling Books by Adi Alsaid

The debut novel from Adi Alsaid, acclaimed author of Never Always Sometimes, North of Happy, and We Didn’t Ask for This Five strangers. 4,286 miles. One epic adventure. Hudson, Bree, Elliot, and Sonia have only one thing in common: a girl named Leila. On a mission to see the Northern lights, Leila drives from Louisiana to Alaska, crashing into each of their lives in her absurdly red car. From prom night disasters to first loves and family weddings, Leila’s cross-country adventure helps each of these four find something that was missing. But no journey is complete without a destination—and for Leila, the end of her trip might just bring her right back to the beginning. Back to the truth she knew all along: that perhaps, the only way to find what you’re looking for is to get a little lost along the way. “Reminiscent of John Green’s Paper Towns, Alsaid’s debut is a gem among contemporary YA novels.” —School Library Journal

“Utterly charming and thoughtful.” —Nicola Yoon, the New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star “A refreshing novel about friendship and romance that defies cliché, Never Always Sometimes will win readers over with its hilarious musings and universal truths.” -Adam Silvera, the New York Times bestselling author of They Both Die at the End and What If It’s Us Rule #10: Never date your best friend. Well, some rules are meant to be broken. Best friends Dave and Julia have spent their high school years living by their carefully crafted Never List — a list of rules they created to make sure they never become high school clichés. But as graduation approaches, Dave is shocked when Julia decides that they should now do everything on the list, from skinny dipping (Rule #6) to road-tripping (Rule #9). But what happens when Julia finds out that Dave has been breaking Rule #8 (never pine silently for someone for the entirety of high school) for years? Can their friendship survive the ultimate cliché and turn into something…more? From the acclaimed author of Let’s Get Lost and North of Happy, comes a story of what can happen in those final days of high school, when you let go of who you are and take a chance on who you might be.

From Adi Alsaid, the acclaimed author of Let’s Get Lost, Never Always Sometimes, and We Didn’t Ask for This What do you do when you want to run away — but you end up finding yourself? A dual citizen of Mexico and the United States, Carlos Portillo is happy to follow the well-worn path to a future of comfort and ease in Mexico City that’s been planned for him since birth. But when his older brother Felix—who defied their parents to live a life of adventure—is tragically killed, Carlos is determined to live out his own dreams for the both of them. He escapes to San Juan Island off the coast of Washington state and gets a job with a celebrity chef he’s admired from afar for years. But while things are coming together for him in the kitchen, a forbidden romance with his boss’s daughter could end his career before it even begins. Finally living for himself, Carlos learns that reality doesn’t come with a road map to an easy life — but does finding your true path mean following your head? Or your heart? “An exceptional tale of grief, ambition, love, and maturity.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adult nominee A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year A TAYSHAS Reading List Book

From Adi Alsaid, the acclaimed author of Let’s Get Lost, Never Sometimes Always, and North of Happy Every year, lock-in night changes lives. This year, it might just change the world. Central International School’s annual lock-in is legendary — and for six students, this year’s lock-in is the answer to their dreams. The chance to finally win the contest. Kiss the guy. Make a friend. Become the star of a story that will be passed down from student to student for years to come. But then a group of students, led by Marisa Cuevas, stage an eco-protest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met. While some students rally to the cause, others are devastated as they watch their plans fall apart. And Marisa, once so certain of her goals, must now decide just how far she’ll go to attain them. “Engrossing.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

From Adi Alsaid, the acclaimed author of Let’s Get Lost, North of Happy, and We Didn’t Ask for This A story about being in love with love. Dumped by her boyfriend the summer after senior year, popular love-and-dating columnist Lu Charles can’t seem to write another word. Devastated, she spends her time wondering if everything she used to believe about love was a lie. But when Lu overhears another college-bound couple breaking up—before deciding to stay together for one final summer—she is inspired. Could Cal and Iris be the key to solving her writers block? Lu starts chronicling the couple’s final weeks around New York City, ignoring her friends, her family, even her looming column deadlines as she becomes Cal and Iris’s unofficial third wheel. With her NYU scholarship hanging in the balance, will Lu be able to discover the truth about love that she’s been looking for? Or will she learn a much greater lesson?

“A briliant multicultual collection that reminds readers that stories about food are rarely just about the food alone.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A stunning collection of short stories about the intersection of family, culture, and food in the lives in teens, from bestselling and critically acclaimed authors, including Sandhya Menon, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Rin Chupeco. A shy teenager attempts to express how she really feels through the pastries she makes at her family’s pasteleria. A tourist from Montenegro desperately seeks a magic soup dumpling that can cure his fear of death. An aspiring chef realizes that butter and soul are the key ingredients to win a cooking competition that could win him the money to save his mother’s life. Welcome to Hungry Hearts Row, where the answers to most of life’s hard questions are kneaded, rolled, baked. Where a typical greeting is, “Have you had anything to eat?” Where magic and food and love are sometimes one in the same. Told in interconnected short stories, Hungry Hearts explores the many meanings food can take on beyond mere nourishment. It can symbolize love and despair, family and culture, belonging and home.

Dive into these three magnificent coming-of-age stories about love, loss, and adventure by Adi Alsaid! LET’S GET LOST Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named Leila. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most. Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila’s own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth—sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they’d never, ever do in high school. But Dave has a secret: he’s broken rule #8: never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It’s either that or break rule #10: never date your best friend. So when Julia impetuously suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they’ve actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love. NORTH OF HAPPY Carlos Portillo has always led a privileged and sheltered life. He lives in Mexico City with his wealthy family and attends an elite international school. Always a rule follower, Carlos is happy to tread the well-worn path in front of him. He has always loved food and cooking, but his parents see it as just a hobby. When his older brother, Felix—who has dropped out of college to live a life of travel—is tragically killed, Carlos begins hearing his brother’s voice, pushing him to rebel against his father’s plan for him. Worrying about his mental health but knowing Felix is right, Carlos runs away to the United States and manages to secure a job with his favorite celebrity chef. As he works to improve his skills in the kitchen and pursue his dream, he begins to fall for his boss’s daughter. Finally living for himself, Carlos must decide what’s most important to him and where his true path really lies. Titles originally published in 2014, 2015, and 2017.

The Sun Is Also a Star meets Jumanji when two teens meet and fall in love during a layover-gone-wrong at the Atlanta airport in this thrilling new novel from the author of Let''s Get Lost! James and Michelle find themselves in the Atlanta airport on a layover. They couldn''t be more different, but seemingly interminable delays draw them both to a mysterious flashing green light--and each other. Where James is passive, Michelle is anything but. And she quickly discovers that the flashing green light is actually... a button. Which she presses. Which may or may not unwittingly break the rules of the universe--at least as those rules apply to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta. Before they can figure up from down, strange, impossible things start happening: snowstorms form inside the B terminal; jungles sprout up in the C terminal; and earthquakes split the ground apart in between. And no matter how hard they try, it seems no one can find a way in or out of the airport. James and Michelle team up to find their families and either escape the airport, or put an end to its chaos--before it''s too late.

A globetrotting novel that takes a determined teen from Japan to Australia and to Argentina and Mexico on a quest to prove that humanity is more good than bad from the author of Let’s Get Lost and Before Takeoff. Isabel is having an existential crisis. She’s three years into high school, and everything she’s learned has only shaken her faith in humanity. Late one night, she finds herself drawn to a niche corner of the internet—a forum whose members believe firmly in one thing: that there are indeed people out in the world quietly performing impossible acts of heroism. You might even call them supers. No, not in the comic book sense—these are real people, just like each of us, but who happen to have a power or two. If Isabel can find them, she reasons, she might be able to prove to herself that humanity is more good than bad. So, the day she turns 18, she sets off on a journey that will take her from Japan to Australia, and from Argentina to Mexico, with many stops along the way. She longs to prove one—just one—super exists to restore her hope for the future. Will she find what she’s looking for? And how will she know when—if—she does?

This exceptional and powerful anthology explores the joys, heartbreaks and triumphs of immigration, with stories by critically acclaimed and bestselling YA authors who are shaped by the journeys they and their families have taken from home—and to find home. WELCOME From some of the most exciting bestselling and up-and-coming YA authors writing today…journey from Ecuador to New York City and Argentina to Utah…from Australia to Harlem and India to New Jersey…from Fiji, America, Mexico and more… Come On In. With characters who face random traffic stops, TSA detention, customs anxiety, and the daunting and inspiring journey to new lands…who camp with their extended families, dance at weddings, keep diaries, teach ESL…who give up their rooms for displaced family, decide their own answer to the question “where are you from?” and so much more… Come On In illuminates fifteen of the myriad facets of the immigrant experience, from authors who have been shaped by the journeys they and their families have taken from home—and to find home.

In the kingdom of Nefaria, eleven-year old Bobert struggles with feeling invisible, until an interaction with a cursed gumball machine draws him into a wicked plot by the evil wizard Matt.

Candelabra''s sister is trapped in a painting, and nothing in the kingdom Nefaria has helped--but the most powerful magic object in the world is in disaster-prone Joviala, and that is where Candelabra and the other exchange students are headed.

Alan, a spirited young writer with a wandering imagination has discovered that the stories he writes are suddenly coming to life. At the suggestion of his loving father, Alan embarks on a quixotic journey to visit friends and use his new found gift to write them all happier lives. There are a few limitations to his power; he can''t cure diseases, he can''t summon pots of gold, and headaches accompany each reality-infused story he lives out, but the appreciative and optimistic Alan is not deterred from creating fantastical characters and storylines to give his friends more literary lives. Adi Alsaid graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a degree in Marketing, but spent the majority of his time there reading and writing fiction. Somewhere Over the Sun is his debut novel and was written in Monterey, CA. He was born and raised in Mexico City to Israeli parents whose love and support made this book possible. Adi is usually unsure of how long he will remain at any given address, but chances are he is living somewhere in the northwestern hemisphere. He hopes this book brings his readers even a sentence''s worth of happiness. Aside from reading and writing, Adi is a huge fan of cooking and eating, watching and playing basketball, and listening to music and singing (despite his clear inability to do so).

Cuatro adolescentes de las cuatro puntas de los Estados Unidos tienen una cosa en común: una chica llamada Leila. Aterriza en sus vidas con su ridículo coche rojo justo en el momento en que más la necesitan.Por ejemplo, Hudson, un chico que trabaja en...

Carlos Portillo siempre ha llevado una vida privilegiada y protegida. Ciudadano dual de México y los Estados Unidos, vive en la Ciudad de México con su familia, donde asiste a una escuela internacional de élite. Siempre ha sido obediente a las normas y un orgullo para sus padres: Carlos está más que feliz de seguir la senda conocida. Siempre ha amado la comida y especialmente cocinar, pero sus padres ven esto como un hobby. Cuando su hermano mayor, Félix -que abandonó la universidad para vivir una vida de viajero- es trágicamente asesinado, Carlos comienza a escuchar la voz de su hermano, aconsejándolo y presionándolo para que se rebele contra el plan de su padre. Preocupado por su salud mental, pero sabiendo que la voz es correcta, Carlos huye a los Estados Unidos y logra asegurarse un trabajo con su chef famoso favorito. Mientras trabaja para mejorar sus habilidades en la cocina y perseguir su sueño, comienza a enamorarse de la hija de su jefe, un hecho que podría terminar su carrera antes de que comience. Finalmente, viviendo para sí mismo, Carlos debe decidir qué es lo más importante para él y dónde está realmente su verdadero camino.

Porque às vezes é preciso se perder para poder se encontrar Quatro jovens ao redor do país têm apenas uma coisa em comum: uma garota chamada Leila. Ela entra na vida de cada um com seu carro absurdamente vermelho no momento em que eles mais precisam de alguém. Entre eles está Hudson, mecânico em uma cidadezinha, que está disposto a jogar fora seus sonhos de amor verdadeiro. E Bree, uma garota que fugiu de casa e festeja todas as terças-feiras — além de algumas transgressões ao longo do caminho. Elliot acredita em finais felizes... até sua vida sair totalmente do script. Enquanto isso, Sonia pensa que, quando perdeu o namorado, também perdeu a capacidade de amar. Hudson, Bree, Elliot e Sonia encontram uma amiga em Leila. E, quando ela vai embora, a vida de cada um deles está transformada para sempre. Mas é durante sua própria jornada de quase sete mil quilômetros através do país que Leila descobre a verdade mais importante: às vezes, aquilo de que você mais precisa está exatamente no ponto onde começou. E talvez a única maneira de encontrar o que você está procurando seja se perder ao longo do caminho.

Dave et Julia sont meilleurs amis depuis toujours. Et depuis toujours, Dave est secrètement amoureux de Julia. La veille de leur entrée au lycée, ils se font une promesse : ne pas succomber aux clichés de l’adolescence et du premier-amour-pour-toujours. Ils ont élaboré une liste de choses à éviter pour ne pas faire comme tout le monde et entrer dans le moule : ne pas aller aux fêtes, ne pas se teindre les cheveux, ne pas sortir avec un prof, ne pas sortir avec son meilleur ami... Dix points que Dave et Julia parviennent à respecter tout au long du lycée. Lorsque l’heure du départ à l’université approche, ils décident de renverser la tendance et de réaliser tout ce qu’ils se sont interdits jusque-là. Tout se passe comme ils le souhaitent jusqu’à ce que Dave se mette à sortir avec une autre fille. Julia réalise alors qu’elle est jalouse. Dave est fou de joie d’avoir enfin ce qu’il a tant espéré. Lui et Julia s’embrassent et passent la nuit ensemble. Sur le coup, tout semble parfait, mais très vite Dave comprend que c’est en fait Gretchen qu’il aime...