Bhai for Now

October 10, 2022
In a lively Parent Trap–inspired, Northern Virginia–set novel from Siddiqui (Barakah Beats), estranged identical twins come face-to-face at the same middle school. Outgoing Ashar, who grew up with the siblings’ teacher mother, loves ice hockey and hopes to make the NHL; aloof Shaheer, an interior design fan who longs to stay put, moves regularly with the boys’ restless doctor father and paternal grandfather. When the Muslim, Pakistani American eighth graders meet for the first time since their parents’ divorce, which occurred during the twins’ infancy, they scheme to switch places. Soon, Ashar is visiting Washington, D.C., with their father as he tries to understand what, if not proximity, makes a family, and Shaheer is helping to renovate a masjid with their mother, engaging with his interest in design. Alternating third-person chapters follow the boys’ home lives, their elaborate ruse, and their growing desire to continue living near one another, in a quick-moving slice-of-life novel with warm relationships, a focus on community, and nostalgia appeal. Ages 8–12. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Triada US.