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Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. PRAISE FOR The Wild Ones
  3. Title Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. The Beginning, or How Paheli Became the First Wild One; With a Cameo by Taraana, the Boy Made of Stars.
  7. An Introduction; Hold On to Your Hats.
  8. The Sweetness in the Sugarcane, or The Impractical Nature of Immortality
  9. Paheli: The Vagrant Experiences of a Mango Addict
  10. Cotton Candy Sugar Screams
  11. From the Book of MEMORIES
  12. “Will You Walk into My Parlor?” Said the Spider to the Fly.
  13. The Best Ice Cream in the World, Teddy Bears, and a Tree Creature.
  14. From the Book of MEMORIES
  15. I.
  16. The Reappearance of the Boy Made of Stars and the Plight of the Girl by the Oleander Lane.
  17. Paheli: An Interlude in Blue
  18. Besieged in the Between
  19. Tea, the City of Stairs, and the Story of a Boy
  20. From the Book of MEMORIES
  21. Heartbreak, Stone Buildings, and Tandoori
  22. Observations, Conversations, and Hot Parantha
  23. Paheli: The Spies Who Came In from the Between
  24. From the Book of MEMORIES
  25. The French Quarter, the Spanish Half, and Eulalie
  26. Paheli: The Eggplant Overture
  27. Sunny Jelly Beans, Po’Boys, and “Alouette”
  28. From the Book of MEMORIES
  29. The Keeper of the Green and the Mysteries of Magic
  30. Blood and the Between
  31. The Library of the Lost and the Stories of the Silenced
  32. Walking in Wicked Ways or The Importance of Balık Ekmek
  33. From the Book of MEMORIES
  34. Looking for the Needle in the Haystack
  35. Paheli: The Peculiar Crackle in the Electricity
  36. Ten Degrees Past Despair
  37. The Fault in the Stars
  38. The Blue City in the Mountains
  39. Paheli: Disharmony in the Attics
  40. From the Book of MEMORIES
  41. Paheli: Continued
  42. The Politics of a Body, the Politics of Pleasure
  43. The Medina, the Riad, and the Red City
  44. Paheli: The Atlas Mountains, the Cozy Rooftop, and the Confession, Possibly of Love
  45. From the Book of MEMORIES
  46. Souks, Spices, and Survival: A Guide into Chaos
  47. Jemaa el-Fna: The Mosque at the End of the World
  48. Paheli: A Moment in Chartreuse
  49. From the Book of MEMORIES
  50. Paheli: On the Frailties of the Heart
  51. Sonagi, or A Sudden Rain
  52. Paheli: The Cheese in the Trap
  53. Paheli: The Maze and the Minotaur
  54. A New Era, a New Dar; the River Sings
  55. The Burning Door, the Fallen City, and Taraana 2.0
  56. Paheli: The Beginning of Forever
  57. From the Book of MEMORIES
  58. Moving One Rock at a Time Will Eventually Move a Mountain, aka Goodbye
  59. Acknowledgments
  60. More from the Author
  61. About the Author

This is not the end of our stories, and it is not the end of yours, but this is as far as we will take you. As far as we can take you. We cannot give you a neat and tidy ending with a bow on top. Life has taught us much, but happily-ever-afters are still unknown to us.

Maybe Taraana and Paheli will find a way to happiness while bickering about everything under the sun. Maybe we’ll stumble on it in one of the cities we travel to. Who knows what the future holds?

What we have is our anger and each other.

Aren’t you angry, sisters? At being treated the way we are? At having to pick up the pieces of what remains after the world is through with us? At being silenced and abused? At being denied our dignity, our bodies, our voices, and our right to justice? Aren’t you angry?

Embrace this anger. Let it fuel your everydays. Defy everyone who tells you that you can’t.

Be wild.

Acknowledgments

Every book is a wild ride and The Wild Ones more so than any other I have written. First, I have to thank Allah (swt) without whom I wouldn’t be possible. Then, I must thank my mother for her hugs, the cups of chai she made me, for the unconditional love she gives me. I’m not certain I deserve you, Ammi, but thank you for being my mom. I love you. I thank my dad, and my bhaiya, Izaz, for being willing to eat sushi with me whenever I asked him, and my bhabhi, Robina, for the trips to the library and for being willing to endure me. My littles, Ruwaiz and Zara, thank you for forgiving me the walks we didn’t take and the times I didn’t play with you. Thank you for believing Paheli and Taraana exist as much as I do. Thank you to my other bhaiya, Ishraaz, my bhabhi, Farzana, and my nephew, Waizu. Thank you to my niece, Pakeeza. You are amazing and I can’t wait for the world to find that out for themselves. Thank you to my aunts, Samrul Buksh and Sadrul Buksh, your snark always made my days bright. Thank you also to my cousins Shafraaz and Sabrina. Sabbo, you’re the best sister a girl could ask for.

Thank you to my amazing agent, Katelyn Detweiler, who believed in me and in this book every single step of the way. Thank you for not thinking the book (and its author) too weird. This book (and I) wouldn’t be here without your encouragement and the work you did to ensure it sold. Thank you to everyone over at Jill Grinberg Literary Agency, especially Sam, Sophia, and Denise.

Thank you to my early readers Jessica Lewenda, Kate Elliott, Tanvi Berwah, J. Kathleen Cheney, and Nazia Nur. Your encouragement led me to this moment.