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...
Avi Greenbaum is Jewish and lives in West Jerusalem. Moussa Shakir is Palestinian and lives in East Jerusalem. Both are 15 years old, live without their fathers and belong to the same soccer club. In the spring of 2006, they face reminders of the conflict that has dogged the region for the past three generations.
Step in and discover all the rituals and wonder of the mosque in this lyrical debut picture book from M. O. Yuksel, with gorgeous artwork from New York Times bestselling illustrator Hatem Aly. A great conversation starter in the home or classroom, this book is perfect for fans of All Are Welcome and The Proudest Blue. No matter who you are or where you’re from, everyone is welcome here. From grandmothers reading lines of the Qur’an and the imam telling stories of living as one, to meeting new f...
“One doesn't go to Jerusalem, one returns to it. That's one of its mysteries.” --Elie Wiesel What city has . . . a bridge made of strings? . . . a golden dome marking a sacred spot? . . .a wall of stones, holding thousands of notes? See Jerusalem through the eyes of a mother cat and her three kittens during a fun-filled romp that introduces children to some of this ancient city's most iconic places. Olivia and her three kittens, adventurous Mirri, serious Jem and shy Bex find themselves on th...
It all starts when Karen and Yasmine trade lunch boxes. Such an act would hardly raise eyebrows anywhere else, but Karen lives on an Israeli kibbutz and Yasmine in a nearby Palestinian village, and distrust between the two cultures runs deep. Karen's father was killed several years ago in the war in Lebanon, and her family still hasn't fully accepted the loss. Karen focuses on running as a way to heal, and her place on the Arab-Israeli track team is something she holds dear. Yasmine's family dis...
For all lovers of horses and history, it's the next book in the popular Horse Diaries series. Born in the Arabian Desert in the ninth century, Yatimah is a black Arabian filly whose name means "orphan." She enjoys her life at the oasis, with sheep to tease, other foals to race, and the daughter of her Bedouin owner to take care of her. But when the colt who is her foster brother is stolen in a raid, Yatimah realizes her true birthright. Like Black Beauty, this moving novel is told in first perso...
A Tablet Magazine Best Jewish Children's Book for 2022! National Jewish Book Award Finalist A hopeful but not sugarcoated retelling of the first spring and Passover of the pandemic . . . A lovely reminder of how the pandemic that separated us also brought us together. --Rachel Fremmer, Tablet MagazineA young girl practices the Four Questions on her apartment balcony in Jerusalem and finds a way to bring the neighbors together for Passover even during the separation of a pandemic.
My Cousin Tamar Lives in Israel (Hardcover)
by Michelle Shapiro Abraham
The stand-alone companion to National Book Award Finalist and beloved poet Naomi Shihab Nye’s The Turtle of Oman. The Turtle of Michigan is a deft and accessible novel that follows a young boy named Aref as he travels from Muscat, Oman, to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and adjusts to a new life and a new school in the United States. A wonderful pick for young middle grade readers and fans of Other Words for Home and Billy Miller Makes a Wish. Aref is excited for his journey to reunite with his father i...
A novel of heart and courage inspired by the incredible story of a real-life princess. Princess Haya, daughter of the King of Jordan, loves her family more than anything. So when tragedy strikes at its heart, she is devastated. The Princess becomes ever more withdrawn until, on her birthday, the King gives her a life-changing present. An incredible new friendship grows and the heartbroken princess begins to dream of an extraordinary future. Inspired by the real-life...
Inspired by a retelling of a traditional Muslim hadith, or account of the words or actions of the Prophet, which the author first heard in Sri Lanka, this is the story of a camel whose cruel owner only realizes what suffering he has caused when the Prophet appears and shows love to the animal. The camel has worked its entire life for a man called Halim, carrying bundles of spices, dates, incense, silver and wool on long journeys across the desert east of the Red Sea. It often has to clim...
Fourteen-year-old Ahmed is stuck in a city that wants nothing to do with him. Newly arrived in Brussels, Belgium, Ahmed fled a life of uncertainty and suffering in Syria, only to lose his father on the perilous journey to the shores of Europe. Now Ahmed's struggling to get by on his own, but with no one left to trust and nowhere to go, he's starting to lose hope. Then he meets Max, a thirteen-year-old American boy. Lonely and homesick, Max is struggling at his new school and just can't seem to...
New York Times bestseller and Newbery Honor Book! A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States, perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Aisha Saeed. Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. At first, everything in...
A House Without Walls is a powerful story of family, hope and redemption amidst the refugee crisis in Syria from the award-winning Elizabeth Laird, illustrated by Lucy Eldridge. Thirteen-year-old Safiya and her family have been driven out of Syria by civil war. Safiya knows how lucky she is - lucky not to be living in a refugee camp, lucky to be alive. But it's hard to feel grateful when she's forced to look after her father and brother rather than go back to school, and now that she's lost her...
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,...
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 acclai...
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.
Growing up as part of a Muslim nomadic tribe in Iran one hundred years ago, Anahita has always been headstrong and independent. When her parents try to make a marriage match between her and her tribe's khan (a type of inter-tribe leader), Anahita rebels. She will gladly marry, she says, but only to the man who can solve the riddle she weaves into her wedding carpet. Though nothing like this has ever been done before, her family and the tribe's spiritual leader eventually agree to the plan. But w...
This debut middle-grade novel chronicles the harrowing journey taken by Sami and his family from privilege to poverty, across countries and continents, from a comfortable life in Damascus, via a smuggler's den in Turkey, to a prison in Manchester. A story of survival, of family, of bravery ... In a world where we are told to see refugees as the ‘other’, this story will remind readers that ‘they’ are also ‘us'.
Saoussan tells the true story of her family’s flight from war-ridden Lebanon. She wrote a letter to Robert Munsch, and together they made her letter into this book.