In the vein of timely titles such as Katherine Applegate's Wishtree and Alan Gratz's Refugee comes a touching, accessible middle-grade debut about the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, as well as the life-changing power of friendship and standing as an ally. There used to be an empty chair at the back of Mrs. Khan's classroom, but on the third Tuesday of the school year a new kid fills it: nine-year-old Ahmet, a Syrian refugee. The whole class is curious about this new boy--he doesn't seem to smil...
Winner of the Middle East Book Award, Youth Fiction category Jameela lives with her mother and father in Afghanistan. Despite the fact that there is no school in their poor, war-torn village, and Jameela lives with a birth defect that has left her with a cleft lip, she feels relatively secure, sustained by her faith and the strength of her beloved mother, Mor. But when Mor suddenly dies, Jameela's father impulsively decides to seek a new life in Kabul. He remarries, a situation that turns Jameel...
Celebrate the beauty and diversity of life in the Arab diaspora throughout the year. Wrapping grape leaves, playing doumbek, drawing henna tattoos, we’re Arab, Arab, Arab, the whole year through! Yallah! From January to December, join some busy kids as they partake in traditions old and new. There’s so much to do, whether it’s learning to write Arabic or looking at hijab fashion sites while planning costumes for a local comic convention. With details as vivid as the scent of jasmine and honeys...
A rebel dreamer of a girl daydreams about her role in making the world a better place—and since dreams bleed into reality, maybe she really does. A Kirkus Reviews Best Beginning Reader of 2022! Shahrzad and the Angry King is a contemporary reimagining of the Scheherazade tale, starring scooter-riding, story-loving Shahrzad. Shahrzad loves stories and looks for them everywhere. When she meets a boy and asks him to tell her his story, he recounts fleeing a country that was peaceful and happy,...
A teenager who wants to be a journalist in a suppressed society describes to his diary his daily life in his hometown of Damascus, Syria.
School is tough enough without throwing a hijab into the mix... Amal is a 16-year-old Melbourne teen with all the usual obsessions about boys, exams, chocolate and magazines. She's also a Muslim, struggling to honour the Islamic faith in a society that doesn't understand it. The story of her decision to "shawl up" and its attendant anxieties (like how much eyeliner to wear) is funny, surprising and touching by turns. Explorin...
In Pakistan, Amal holds onto her dream of being a teacher even after becoming an indentured servant to pay off her family's debt to the wealthy and corrupt Khan family.
The Mau Mau – the name of a secret society that once struck terror into the hearts of British settlers in Kenya. An episode in history that ended in a State of Emergency, with violent and brutal acts dividing a nation. This is an intensely personal and vivid story of two boys: one black, one white. Once they were friends even though their circumstances are very different. But in a country riven by fear and prejudice, even the best of friends can betray one another . . .Internationally acclaimed...
Sharp Shot (Chance Twins) (Junior Library Guild Selection)
by Jack Higgins
Jack Higgins, master of the modern thriller, teams up with Justin Richards, bestselling author of Dr Who, to deliver a pulse-pounding new instalment in the adventures of the teenage Chance twins… This third gripping novel about the adventures of teenage twins Rich and Jade Chance takes the action and adventure to a new calibre – then pulls the trigger… With their secret agent dad in trouble, Jade and Rich are flung into a headlong series of chases, fights and captures that le...
Who would have thought that the emperor Charlemagne would make friends with an albino elephant, a gift from the caliph of Baghdad? Told from the fictionalized point of view of a monk who set down the actual story in 883–884 CE, the book follows the elephant’s journey through Egypt, across the Mediterranean to Italy and across the Alps to Germany. When the elephant finally reaches his destination, Charlemagne is so delighted with his exotic new pet that he introduces him to his many children and...
Fatima the Spinner and the Tent (Hoopoe Teaching-Stories)
by Idries Shah
Mrs. Spiegel loves her two cats while her grumpy neighbor, Mr. Modiano, claims they are useless but when Ketzie goes missing, it is Mr. Modiano who searches the streets of Tel Aviv all night to find her.
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves/The Tale of Lazy Ali/The Miraculous Fish (Arabian Nights)
by Melodie
Jamal the little camel is separated from his mama, baba, and their caravan by a freak sandstorm.
Sixteen-year-old Tomas Wanninger persuades his mother to let him leave Germany to volunteer at a kibbutz in Israel, where he experiences a violent political attack and finds answers about his own past.