Celebrate Arab American Heritage Month by reading young adult books written by contemporary Arab American YA authors!
Compiled by:
Fern S.
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Courtne)
Allie was 7 years old when she learned her family was different and feared. Now, she struggles to claim her Muslim and Arabic heritage while finding her place as an American teenager.
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Katouh)
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.
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Elhillo)
Samira is determined to have a perfect summer filled with fun parties, exploring DC, and growing as a poet—until a scandalous rumor has her grounded and unable to leave her house. But soon she's keeping a bigger secret than ever before—one that that could prove her reputation and jeopardize her place in her community.
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Metoui)
Stranded at the Wildwood Motel while on their spring break road trip, Mira and Layla discover eight people died in their room and set out to find the connection between the deaths and the unexplainable things that keep happening inside Room 9.
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Murad)
Ida is forced to move to a different school, but people still treat her like she'll never fit in. One day, she looks for food and discovers a jar of olives that came from her family's village near Jerusalem. Ida eats one and finds herself in the village, but things are different in this other reality.
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Daud)
In a world dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, 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 traveling beyond her isolated home. But, when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects.
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Shukair)
An 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.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Warga)
Estranged from the best friend whose brother killed her sister in a school shooting, a grieving Cora receives a message on her 12th birthday from her friend, asking for her help with creating a time portal to prevent the tragedy.
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Khalili)
Jessie 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. But she gets more than she bargained for when two very different boys steal her heart, forcing her to go off-script.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Nimr)
Noor, a young orphaned girl who starts in the present and must go back in time to get four magical bird feathers and save the world. Aided by a djinn cat and girls who look identical to Noor and who each have one of the bird's powers.
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Safi)
In this reimagination of the legend of Robin Hood, Rahma al-Hud and her older sister Zeena travel to Jerusalem for a final mission, and on their way, they assemble a ragtag band of misfits and get swept up Holy Land politics.
(Adult Nonfiction - 811.54 Nye)
95 poems pay tribute to essential voices past and present that have the power to provoke us, lead us, and give us hope.
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Faizal)
In a world inspired by ancient Arabia, 17-year-old huntress Zafira must disguise herself as a man to seek a lost artifact that could return magic to her cursed world.
Graphic Novels
(Graphic Novels - GN Fahmy Huda F Are You)
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.
(Graphic Novels - GN 741.5092 Gharib Gha)
An intimate graphic memoir about an American girl growing up with her Egyptian father's new family, forging unexpected bonds and navigating adolescence in an unfamiliar country.
(Juvenile Graphic Novels - J-GN Ata Nayra And The Djinn)
In this coming-of-age graphic novel with a fantastical twist, Nayra Mansour, a Muslim American, girl is helped on her journey to selfhood by a djinn.
(Graphic Novels - GN Shammas Squire)
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, and Aiza can finally enlist in the competitive Squire training program.