This week on Fully Booked, we’re celebrating the Best Young Adult Books of the Year—the final installment in our Best Books of 2022 podcast series. For the past four weeks, we’ve been highlighting an author from each category—fiction, nonfiction, picture books, and middle grade—followed by a special conversation with that section’s editor.

Today’s episode is all about YA, as author S.K. Ali joins us to discuss Love From Mecca to Medina (Salaam Reads, Oct. 18), the brilliant follow-up to the hit spring-break romance Love From A to Z (2019).

In Love From Mecca to Medina, Adam Chen and Zayneb Malik progress in their relationship, in significant and unforetold ways. Kirkus calls this appealing sequel a “contemplative exploration of faith, love, and the human condition.”

Here’s a bit more from our starred review: “Islamically married but living apart—Adam’s in Doha and Zayneb’s in Chicago—the couple meet for short international getaways while Zayneb finishes law school.…Eagerly awaiting a romantic reprieve in an English cottage, Zayneb is disappointed when Adam, who’s in a period of remission from multiple sclerosis, suggests they instead make Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.…The novel’s dual narrative structure references a curated selection of artifacts as it considers faith and emotion in ways that are unapologetically Muslim and entirely human.”

Ali and host Megan Labrise discuss Sabaa Tahir’s National Book Award win for All My Rage (on the night before this interview); the community of readers rooting for Adam and Zayneb’s romance; where these characters are—physically, emotionally, spiritually—at the start of Love From Mecca and Medina; Zayneb’s action-oriented approach to living; Adam’s thoughtfulness; making Umrah; what Ali likes about writing an ensemble cast; and much more.

You can listen to new episodes of Fully Booked every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts and Spotify or at kirkusreviews.com/podcast.