I Can Help by Reem Faruqi Illustrated by Mikela Provost Eerdmans Books for Young Readers When Ms. Underwood asks if anyone wants to help Kyle, Zahra always volunteers. She loves spending time with Kyle—he’s creative and generous, and he makes the funniest jokes at lunch. But when Zahra’s other classmates start teasing her for helping […]
Barakah Beats by Maleeha Siddiqui Scholastic Press Twelve-year-old Nimra Sharif has spent her whole life in Islamic school, but her grandparents – who have never quite seen eye-to-eye with her parents on how to raise her – think it’s time she goes to “real school.” Nimra’s nervous, but as long as she has Jenna, her […]
Wishing Upon the Same Stars by Jacquetta Nammar Feldman Harper/HarperCollins This is a poignant coming-of-age middle grade debut about Yasmeen Khoury, an Arab American girl who befriends the Jewish-Israeli girl next door. Perfect for fans of Front Desk and American as Paneer Pie. When twelve-year-old Yasmeen Khoury moves with her family to San Antonio, all she wants to […]
Thunderbird : Book One by Sonia Nimr, translated by M. Lynx Qualey Center for Middle Eastern Studies at University of Texas-Austin / University of Texas Press The Thunderbird trilogy is a fast-paced time-traveling fantasy adventure centered on Noor, a young orphaned Palestinian girl who starts in the present and must go back in time to […]
Ida in the Middle by Nora Lester Murad Interlink Publishing Group Every time violence erupts in the Middle East, Ida knows what’s coming at her school near Boston. Some of her classmates treat her as if it’s all her fault—just for being Palestinian. In eighth grade, Ida is forced to move to a different school, […]