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“A sweet coming-of-age story of falling in love but also falling in love with yourself. The world can feel too big and demanding when you’re a teenager and Khalilieh’s depiction of what it feels like as an autistic teenager navigating family, love, and dreams is raw and unapologetic.”

—Zoulfa Katouh, bestselling author of As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

Everything Comes Back to You

Written by Jackie Khalilieh
Published by Tundra Books

Lennon is excited and apprehensive about starting high school, where her older sister is going to be a senior. Then her sister drops a bombshell: she is pregnant. Her Palestinian Canadian parents are devastated, and Lennon finds herself under even more pressure to be a “good girl” – a role autistic Lennon has always played well. But after a chance encounter with John, a white boy in the grade above, Lennon finds herself nursing a crush on someone her parents would definitely not approve of-which only seems to intrigue her more.

As Lennon and John are drawn together and pulled apart throughout her four years of high school, Lennon wrestles with feelings of shame and yearning, obedience and rebellion through the lens of her autism, trying to both please her parents and herself. When a relationship with a different boy challenges her notions of family and happiness, her way forward becomes clear, even if it might mean losing everything and everyone she loves.

Primary ISBN: 9781774884782
Publication Date: August 2026
Available As: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook
Young Adult, Age 14 or older

Community Represented:

Themes: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Setting: Canada

Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: 1st Generation

Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience

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