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Middle Eastern Culture Booklist for Children and Teens |
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Here are some of our favorite books that depict Middle Eastern cultures for children and teens. These books can all be found in the Easy, Juvenile, and Teen sections of the library, unless otherwise noted.
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Eleven Words for Love: A Journey Through Arabic Expressions of Love by Randa Abdel-FattahA family has fled their homeland in search of safety in another country, carrying a single suitcase. As their journey unfolds, the oldest child reflects on the special contents of that suitcase: photo albums that evoke eleven of many names for love in Arabic. From sunshine-warm friendship to the love that dissolves all tears; from the love that makes you swoon to the love that leaves you yearning for the heart's homeland--her family has experienced it all. Illustrated in vibrant watercolor pencil and collage on textured card stock, this moving scrapbook shows a family embracing an unknown future even as they honor the past, casting immigration and the refugee experience in the light of universal human connection.
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Halal Hot Dogs by Susannah AzizEvery Friday Musa's family takes turns picking out a Jummah treat which they use to try all different foods, but when it is Musa's turn he sticks to his favorite halal hot dogs to share.
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Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy CamperWalking to her grandmother's home to help make warak enab, Lina discovers many ways to hear snow, from the scrape of a shovel on a sidewalk to the quiet pats of snowman-building.
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The House Without Lights by Reem FaruqiHouse watches as its neighbors' lights twinkle during the winter holidays, hoping it will one day shine too, and after new owners move in, House learns that families celebrate joy and togetherness in their own way.
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Looking for the Eid Moon by Sahtinay AbazaTwo sisters search the night sky, looking for the crescent moon that signals the start of Eid, the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan.
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Moon's Ramadan by Natasha Khan KaziCombining glimpses of different countries' celebrations with corresponding phases of the moon, this accessible book introduces the holiday of Ramadan—a month of peace during which children and their families do good deeds in honor of those who have less.
This title can be found in the Easy Holiday - RA section of the library.
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Salma the Syrian Chef by Ahmad Danny RamadanWhen Salma wants to cheer her mother up by cooking a homemade Syrian meal, the staff and other newcomers in her welcome center are happy to lend a hand.
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The Katha Chest by Radhiah ChowdhuryPiecing together themes of love, culture, and memory, this multigenerational story follows Asiya as she visits Nanus house, where she learns about the bold and brave women in her family through the quilts Nanu has collected.
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Under My Hijab by Hena KhanAs a young girl observes that each of six women in her life wears her hijab and hair in a different way, she considers how to express her own style one day.
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Marya Khan and the Awesome Adventure Park by Saadia FaruqiExcited for spring break, third-graders Marya, Hanna, and Alexa plan their visit to Skye Adventure Park, determined to experience all the park has to offer, but when Marya becomes determined to beat Alexa on the park's obstacle course she loses sight of everything else the park has to offer.
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Amil and the After by Veera HiranandaniTwelve-year-old Amil draws scenes from his life for his late mother as he navigates the uncertainties of emigrating from Pakistan to newly independent India.
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Salma Makes a Home by Ahmad Danny RamadanAfter a year, eleven months, and six days apart, Salma's dad is finally joining her family in their new home. Salma is so happy to see her baba-but she's also worried. What if he misses Syria so much that he leaves them again? She throws herself into showing him around the city and helping him learn English, but as Baba shares memories of Damascus, Salma starts to realize how much she misses Syria, too.
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Fawzia Gilani's Treasury of Eid Tales by Fawzia Gilani-WilliamsTeeming with faith, kindness, and charity, this wonderful collection of 14 Eid tales features a colorful cast of characters who embrace the traditions and customs of this Muslim holiday.
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Grounded by Aisha SaeedTold from alternating viewpoints, this story of one unexpected night at an airport brings together four kids—poet Feek, cat lover Hanna, karate champ Sami, and politician's daughter Nora—in an encounter that forever changes their lives.
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Unsettled by Reem FaruqiYoung Nurah reluctantly moves with her family from Karachi, Pakistan, to Peachtree City, Georgia, but, after some ups and downs, begins to feel at home.
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The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg SloanSeparated from her mother during a long immigration waiting period, young Sila accompanies her mechanic father outside their Oregon hometown before forging connections with an elderly lottery winner, an abused circus elephant, and an unusual boy.
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More to the Story by Hena Khan A tale inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women follows the experiences of a Muslim-American writer whose ambition to win a national media contest is complicated by her family’s relocation overseas and her sister’s dangerous illness.
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Silverworld by Diana Abu-Jaber Casting a desperate spell to save a beloved grandmother who everyone else thinks is ill, a Lebanese-American girl finds herself in an enchanted world that is falling dangerously out of balance.
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Please note: This list include both Teen Middle and Teen High School titles, unless otherwise noted.
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The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri1941. The German armies are storming across Europe. Iran is a neutral country occupied by British forces on one side, Soviet forces on another. Soldiers fill the teahouses of Isfahan. Nazi spies roam the alleyways. Babak and his little sister have just lost their father. Now orphans, fearing they will be separated, the two devise a plan. Babak will take up his father's old job as a teacher to the nomads. With a chalkboard strapped to Babak's back, and a satchel full of textbooks, the siblings set off to find the nomad tribes as they make their yearly trek across the mountains. On the treacherous journey they meet a Jewish boy, hiding from a Nazi spy. And suddenly, they are all in a race for survival. Against the backdrop of World War II comes an epic adventure in faraway places. Through the cacophony of soldiers, tanks, and planes, can young hearts of different creeds and nations learn to find a common language?
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As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa KatouhSalama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager's life. Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe. But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all. Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are--not a war, but a revolution--and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria's freedom.
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Sisters of the War by Rania AbouzeidAn award-winning journalist and author of No Turning Back documents the tragic story of the Syrian civil conflict that has caused millions to become refugees and ended hundreds of thousands of lives, sharing insights into the war from the perspectives of two pairs of siblings on opposing sides.
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A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia AbawiWhen the city where he lives with his large, loving family is destroyed by Daesh fighters who bomb buildings, commit acts of violence, and publicly execute anyone who resists, a heartbroken Tareq embarks on the perilous life of a refugee traveling a dangerous route from Syria through Turkey and Greece.
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Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Àbíké-ÍyímídéReturning home early for a funeral and for the summer, Said Hossain finds it hard to avoid facing his ex-best friend, Tiwa Olatunji, who pretends he doesn't exist, until they are brought together to save their Islamic center from demolition.
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A Bit of Earth by Karuna RiaziIn this captivating retelling of The Secret Garden, difficult child Maria Latif arrives in Long Island from Pakistan to live with the strange Clayborne family where she discovers an off-limits garden that becomes a place where she finally feels at home.
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Perfectly Parvin by Olivia AbtahiHeartbroken and humiliated when she is dumped just days into her first relationship, Iranian American Parvin Mohammadi struggles to remain true to herself while attempting to prove to a school heartthrob that she is rom-com girlfriend material.
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Barakah Beats by Maleeha SiddiquiLeaving Islamic school to attend public school, twelve-year-old Nimra Sharif joins the school’s popular eighth grade boy band, Barakah Beats, in an attempt to fit in.
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City of the Plague God by Sarwat ChaddaThirteen-year-old Sikander Aziz has to team up with the hero Gilgamesh in order to stop Nergal, the ancient god of plagues, from wiping out the population of Manhattan.
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A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh MafiA year after 9/11, Muslim teenager Shirin has completely withdrawn from social life, until she meets Ocean James in her biology class and is tempted to actually let her guard down.
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Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story) by Daniel NayeriAt the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. But Khosrou's stories are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his family fled Iran in the middle of the night with the secret police moments behind them, back to the refugee camps of Italy, and further back to Isfahan.
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Internment by Samira Ahmed Set in a futuristic United States where Muslim-Americans are forced into internment camps, Layla Amin must lead a revolution against complicit silence.
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Code of Honor by Alan GratzWhen Iranian-American Kamran Smith learns that his big brother, Darius, has been labelled a terrorist, he sets out to piece together the codes and clues that will save his brother's life and his country from a deadly terrorist attack.
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