Arab American Heritage Month

Determined to stay : Palestinian youth fight for their village

Jody Sokolower ; introduction by Nick Estes
2021
ISBN: 9781623718886

"Palestinian youth and the fight for their village Silwan is a Palestinian village located just outside the ancient walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Determined to Stay: Voices of Silwan is a moving story of a village and its people. As Silwani youth and community members share their lives with us, their village becomes an easily accessible way to understand Palestinian history and current reality. Written with young people in mind, the richly illustrated text stresses connections between the lives of youth in the US and Palestine: criminalization of youth, forced relocation, the impact of colonialism on Indigenous communities, efforts to bury history, and inspiring examples of resistance and resilience"-- Provided by publisher.

Huda F are you?

Huda Fahmy
2021
ISBN: 9780593324301

Huda and her family just moved to Dearborn, Michigan, a small town with a big Muslim population. In her old town, Huda knew exactly who she was: She was the hijabi girl. But in Dearborn, everyone is the hijabi girl. Huda is lost in a sea of hijabis, and she can't rely on her hijab to define her anymore. She has to define herself. So she tries on a bunch of cliques, but she isn't a hijabi fashionista or a hijabi athlete or a hijabi gamer. She's not the one who knows everything about her religion or the one all the guys like. She's miscellaneous, which makes her feel like no one at all. Until she realizes that it'll take finding out who she isn't to figure out who she is. -- From book jacket.

Squire

[text by] Nadia Shammas, Sara Alfageeh ; [illustrations by Sara Alfageeh]
2022
ISBN: 9780062945846

From two incredible rising talents comes the fantasy graphic novel Molly Knox Ostertag calls "instantly compelling." Aiza has always dreamt of becoming a Knight. It's the highest military honor in the once-great Bayt-Sajji Empire, and as a member of the subjugated Ornu people, Knighthood is her only path to full citizenship. Ravaged by famine and mounting tensions, Bayt-Sajji finds itself on the brink of war once again, so Aiza can finally enlist in the competitive Squire training program. It's not how she imagined it, though. Aiza must navigate new friendships, rivalries, and rigorous training under the unyielding General Hende, all while hiding her Ornu background. As the pressure mounts, Aiza realizes that the "greater good" that Bayt-Sajji's military promises might not include her, and that the recruits might be in greater danger than she ever imagined. In this breathtaking and timely story, Aiza will have to choose, once and for all: loyalty to her heart and heritage, or loyalty to the Empire.

Ten things I hate about me

Randa Abdel-Fattah
2009
ISBN: 9780545050555

Lebanese-Australian Jamilah, known in school as Jamie, hides her heritage from her classmates and tries to pass by dyeing her hair blonde and wearing blue-tinted contact lenses, until her conflicted feelings become too much for her to bear.

Girl gone viral

Arvin Ahmadi
2019
ISBN: 9780425289907

"The inventive and hauntingly timely story of a seventeen-year-old coder's catapult to stardom, reminiscent of The Social Network with a Ready Player One twist. For seventeen-year-old Opal Hopper, code is magic. She can build entire worlds from scratch -- shimmering lakes, Mars craters, any virtual experience her heart desires. But she can't code her dad back into her life. When he disappeared after her tenth birthday, leaving only a cryptic note, Opal tried desperately to find him. And when he never turned up, she enrolled at a boarding school for technical prodigies and tried to forget. Until now. Because WAVE, the world's biggest virtual reality platform, has announced a contest where the winner gets to meet its billionaire founder. The same billionaire who worked closely with Opal's dad. The one she always believed might know where he went. The one who maybe even murdered him. What begins as a small data hack to win the contest spirals out of control when Opal goes viral, digging her deeper into a hole of lies, hacks, and manipulation. How far will Opal go for the answers -- or is it the attention -- she's wanted for years?" -- Provided by publisher.

All-American Muslim girl

Nadine Jolie Courtney
2019
ISBN: 9780374309527

Sixteen-year-old Allie, aged seven when she knew her family was different and feared, struggles to claim her Muslim and Arabic heritage while finding her place as an American teenager.

Mirage

Somaiya Daud
2018
ISBN: 9781250126429

"In a world dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry; she dreams of having adventures, and travelling beyond her isolated home. But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped and brought to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is to become a body double for the hated princess Maram"-- adapted from Amazon description.

Home is not a country

Safia Elhillo
2021
ISBN: 9780593177051

"Nima doesn't feel understood. By her mother, who grew up far away in a different land. By her suburban town, which makes her feel too much like an outsider to fit in and not enough like an outsider to feel like that she belongs somewhere else. At least she has her childhood friend Haitham, with whom she can let her guard down and be herself. Until she doesn't. As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen, the name her parents didn't give her at birth: Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might just be more real than Nima knows. And more hungry. And the life Nima has, the one she keeps wishing were someone else's...she might have to fight for it with a fierceness she never knew she had."-- Publisher's description.

We free the stars

Hafsah Faizal
2021
ISBN: 9780374311575

In a world inspired by ancient Arabia, seventeen-year-old Zafira and the sultan's son Nasir continue their quest to uncover a lost magic artifact and discover that the prize they seek may be even more dangerous than any of their enemies.

As long as the lemon trees grow

Zoulfa Katouh
2022
ISBN: 9780316351379

Eighteen-year-old Salama Kassab, a pharmacy student volunteering at the hospital in Homs, is desperate to find passage on a refugee boat for herself and her pregnant best friend, but first she must learn to see the events around her for what they are--not a war, but a revolution.

Something more

Jackie Khalilieh
2023
ISBN: 9781774882139

"Fifteen-year-old Jessie, a quirky loner obsessed with the nineties, is diagnosed as autistic just weeks before starting high school. Determined to make a fresh start and keep her diagnosis a secret, Jessie creates a list of goals that range from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical first kiss and landing a spot in the school play. Within the halls of Holy Trinity High, she finds a world where things are no longer black and white and quickly learns that living in color is much more fun. But Jessie gets more than she bargained for when two very different boys steal her heart, forcing her to go off-script."--Provided by publisher.

This woven kingdom

Tahereh Mafi
2022
ISBN: 9780062972446

"To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight. The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can't put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom--and the world"-- Provided by publisher.

Not the girls you're looking for

Aminah Mae Safi
2018
ISBN: 9781250151810

A Muslim-American teen goes into denial mode about her role in an out-of-control party that occured during Ramadan, a situation that escalates until she incurs damage that is harder to repair, forcing her to come to terms with her true self. --Publisher

The next new Syrian girl

Ream Shukairy
2023
ISBN: 9780316432634

The unlikely friendship between Syrian American boxer Khadija and Syrian refugee Leene reveals the pressures and expectations of the perfect Syrian daughter and the repercussions of the Syrian Revolution both at home and abroad.

Here we are now

Jasmine Warga
2017
ISBN: 9780062324702

While her mother is out of town, sixteen-year-old Taliah accompanies her estranged father--a famous rock star who one day appears on her doorstep--to Oak Falls, Indiana, to meet his dying father and the rest of his family, and on the way, Taliah learns about how her parents met and separated, her mother's experience as a Jordanian immigrant, and her own ability to accept change and open up to others.

From here : a memoir

Luma Mufleh
2023
ISBN: 9780593354452

"Refugee advocate Luma Mufleh writes of her tumultuous journey to reconcile her identity as a gay Muslim woman and a proud Arab-turned-American refugee"-- Provided by publisher.