Bhai for Now is a 2024 Lone Star selection

Shaheer moves frequently because his dad doesn't like to stay in one place for long. Therefore, Shaheer learns to not get attached; don't make a cozy home or make friends because it's too hard to leave. He recognizes that he has no control over his father and accepts this life. His grandfather lives and moves with them, understanding Shaheer's quietness. Shaheer feels closer to his grandfather than his father because his father is always working, as he's a doctor. Once again, they unpack in their new home. They have very little, making moving easy. Upon arriving at school, Shaheer keeps getting mistaken for another kid. He just wants his earphones in his ears and to be left alone. Zora treats him particularly weirdly.

Asher lives with his mother and loves his extended family. For the first time, he and his mother have their own home, for they've lived with his aunt, uncle, and cousin Zora most of his life. Zora is like a sister. He has two goals: get into an advanced school in order to play on their hockey team and eventually play professional hockey. His mom teaches and tutors him as they prep for the exam needed to get into the prestigious school. He talks a lot and can be impulsive; he's full of energy and moves constantly from activity to activity.

Shaheer and Asher eventually meet, which explains why Shaheer has been talked to and teased all day. They look exactly alike. Zora is the smart one. She makes them sit down and asks them questions. They were born on the same day with one having a father and one having a mother. They are obviously twins split when their parents divorced. They decide to switch places every Thursday and Sunday. In reality, Asher makes all of the decisions. He needs a lot from Shaheer to accomplish his goals. Shaheer feels a lot of anger toward his mother, but he does want to meet her. When she makes Asher volunteer at a new Muslim center being built, Shaheer ends of being the one who does the volunteer hours. He loves it; he's watched HGTV and the Property Brothers so much that he loves creating a better space for the people the home will serve in the Muslim community. He also really enjoys having a cousin. He and Zora get pretty close, for he can rely on her more than Asher who is always bouncing about. Meanwhile, Asher loves spending time with his dad, visiting places in New York as tourists and getting help on science, which will help with his exam coming up.

If you've seen the Parent Trap, this novel follows the same idea. At some point they'll have to come clean to the parents. The problem is that Shaheer's dad wants to move AGAIN. It's only been a few months. Shaheer doesn't want to lose his family, but he doesn't know how to speak up for himself like Asher can. He needs to accept the inevitable and break away from this family. Zora and Asher won't have it. They make a plan and hope it works to let Shaheer and his father stay so that they can be brothers.

Several kids will enjoy reading this novel--it's cute. I like Zora the best because she makes the boys stop and pay attention. They both make mistakes and need to face themselves in order to be a better brother. They also have to be the adults, as the mom and dad have trouble when they're together. I enjoyed listening to it. It didn't take long and I was adequately entertained for a while. ( )

When Shaheer shows up as the new boy on the first day of school, everyone is shocked by how much he looks like a twin of Ashar. The two boys couldn't be any more different in interests and personality, but they soon figure out Shaheer's father was married to Ashar's mother and they are brothers who share the same birthday. Dismayed that their parents kept their separation a secret from them both, the boys pull a Parent Trap maneuver to get to know the other parent. Their elaborate schemes often complicate how the boys get to know each other, which adds extra layers to what could just be a fun story about mistaken identity. The clever title ("bhai" means brother) hints at the sometimes fragile nature of family. ( )

AParent Trap redux that doesn’t disappoint.

Ashar plays hockey and lives with his mother. Shaheer likes interior decorating just like his paternal grandfather, something he can’t really indulge in because the two of them are constantly moving house with Shaheer’s doctor father. Ashar’s least favorite subject is science, one that Shaheer is pretty good at. The two boys, long-lost identical twin brothers whose parents divorced when they were babies, finally come face to face at school after a series of comedic errors. Determined to figure out why they were separated and the existence of each kept hidden from the other, the twins come up with a complex swapping system in which Shaheer gets to spend time with his mother and Ashar with his father and grandfather. What follows is a heartwarming story of family, siblings, and belonging. Set in Northern Virginia, the story’s outline may be familiar, but what makes it work is the writing: It’s lucid, pacy, and gives enough space for all the characters to find their own voices, especially the tweens. There are morsels of Pakistani food, moments of Muslim solidarity, and lots of hopes and aspirations about growing up that come with being eighth graders, all skillfully brought together.

A delightful tale of family love and complexity. (Fiction. 8-12)

-Kirkus Review

children's middlegrade fiction - Pakistani-American (incidentally Muslim) 8th grade long-lost twins with divorced/estranged-by-choice parents

Love that Shaheer watches Property Brothers :); cute story with lots of heart, finding family you didn't know you missed, and then trying to hold on to them ~~ ( )

Shaheer lives with his dad, a doctor, and his grandfather, Dada; they're his only family, and because they move so often, Shaheer doesn't have close friends either.

Ashar lives with his mother, and until recently, they lived with his uncle and his cousin Zohra.

When Shaheer and Ashar meet in middle school, it's like looking into a mirror - they are, undeniably, twins. Neither knew of the other's existence - how could their families split them up and keep them secret from each other? The boys decide to pull a Parent Trap, switching places a couple times a week in the hopes that getting to know and bond with the other parent will force them to explain - and in Shaheer's case, to finally stay in one place.

The boys are very different in many ways, and Zohra provides a needed balance and bridge between them. A powerful climactic scene at the airport is followed by healing and a path forward.

Quotes

"Parents aren't perfect just because they're parents. They can make mistakes, too." (Ashar to Shaheer, 100)

How could [Shaheer] explain to Ashar that accepting his fate was easier to save himself the devastation of losing yet another potential home? (176)

It was like Shaheer had pulled back the curtains in the window of a house he had only ever admired from the sidewalk, whose inside he was finally allowed to tour. (204)

"But wanting to be stay and being brave enough to stay are two different things." (205)

....he wished he could take his words back. But words were like arrows. Once you let them go and they hit their target, you couldn't take the arrow back without leaving a hole behind. (226) ( )