Honor the history, culture, and lasting contributions of Arab Americans with these titles for adults, teens, and kids!
A History of the Big House by Charif Majdalani
At the turn of the 19th century, Wakim Nassar builds a grand estate and orange plantations near Beirut, but war, illness, and family tragedy erode his legacy, as his descendants are forced to abandon the once-glorious house.
Teaching at a school for underprivileged boys in New York, a young Palestinian woman, whose eccentric methods cross boundaries, gets caught up in an intercontinental scheme reselling Birkin bags, and to gain control over her body and mind, becomes preoccupied with purity, cleanliness and self-image, while drawing her students into her obsessions.
A young Muslim woman working at Bridal Bazaar as a gofer for her bridezilla cousin narrowly avoids her parents’ plans for an arranged marriage and finds herself in a love triangle.
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
After a dream-analysis algorithm predicts that she will harm her husband, Sara is detained in a facility with similarly accused women, where she navigates shifting rules until a new arrival leads her to confront the forces controlling her fate.
Living in Your Light by Abdellah Taïa
Malika, a Moroccan woman, navigates decades of upheaval, from French colonization to King Hassan II’s death. She endures personal struggles—from her husband being sent to war to fighting for her daughter’s future—until a dangerous intruder forces her to confront her past.
Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari
In 1995, young Yemini Israeli woman, Zohara, when her mother dies, gets on a plane to Israel where she finds herself on an unexpected path that leads to shocking truths about her family, forcing her to question everything she thought she knew about her parents, her heritage and her own future.
The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa
A censor working to remove all mentions of queerness, unapproved religions and any mentions of life before the Revolution from books is haunted at night by the characters of literary classics enticing him to read the forbidden tomes.
In 1986, Muna Heddad flees Lebanon for Montreal, hoping to teach French but facing rejection at every turn. Instead, she becomes a weight-loss hotline operator, listening to strangers’ deepest secrets while struggling to find her own place. A poignant tribute to the 1980s, this novel explores resilience, reinvention, and human connection.
The Djinn’s Apple by Djamila Morani
When Nardeen’s home is stormed by angry men frantically in search of something–or someone–she is the only one who manages to escape. And after the rest of her family is left behind and murdered, Nardeen sets out on an unyielding mission to bring her family’s killers to justice, regardless of the cost.
Finding Famous by Candice Jalili
When she discovers her biological father is the recently deceased patriarch of America’s original reality TV family, dripping with wealth, fame and Vogue magazine covers, Josie Lawrence suddenly has everything she ever wished for, but is she brave enough to take it
Portrait of a Shadow by Meriam Metoui
Clearing out her older sister Inez’s studio, Mae is strangely drawn to a canvas painted with heavy layers of white in an ornate antique frame and decides to trace Inez’s last steps in hopes of finding the truth, certain her disappearance is related to the painting.
Desert Echoes by Abdi Nazemian
Two years after the boy he loved disappeared during their trip to Joshua Tree, 17-year-old Kam returns to Joshua Tree to find closure but instead finds himself in danger of facing a similar fate, forcing him to reckon with the truth of his past relationship.
The Wishless Ones by Hafsah Faizal
Jafar longs to protect his soft-hearted younger brother, Rohan, and wants to apprentice at Maghriz’s House of Wisdom, but Maghriz holds danger and intrigue as the brothers contend with their darkest impulses, in an origin story of Jafar before he became Agrabah’s grand vizier and his brother.
Break to You by Neal Shusterman
This fast-paced, highly compelling story exposes what life is like in a juvenile detention center—and reveals the hearts of two teens, Adriana and Jon, who are forced to live in desperate circumstances.
Working on an illegal guide to abortion in Texas for those in need in an America where abortions are prosecuted and the right to choose no longer exists, two best friends fight for what they believe in while one of them harbors a painful secret.
The Next New Syrian Girl by Ream Shukairy
When their worlds collide, Khadija Shami, a sheltered Syrian American high school senior with a monstrous ego, and Leene Tahir, a Syrian refugee doing her best to survive school and family pressures while battling panic attacks, become the unlikeliest of friends.
Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqi
During a family trip to Florida, twins Zara and Zeeshan set aside their quarrels and work together to help an ailing turtle on the beach.
Daughters of the Lamp by Nedda Lewers
While in Egypt for her uncle’s wedding, Sahara Rashad, who lives by logic and has never believed in magic, embarks on an adventure of a lifetime when her late mother’s necklace leads her to Ali Baba’s magical treasure and the discovery of her true legacy.
Almost Sunset by Wahab Algarmi
Hassan faces a hectic month of homework, soccer and gaming while fasting every day for the holy month of Ramadan, in a story about balancing family traditions and secular middle school life.
While his home life is unraveling, thirteen-year-old Ali organizes a charity soccer match to help his friend Aadam avoid deportation back to Syria.
A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby
When her mother falls into a coma, Safiya experiences her mother’s memories of her childhood in Kuwait, which puts her on a path to accepting loss and embracing who she is—someone not so different from her mother after all.
Farrah Noorzad and the Ring of Fate by Deeba Zargarpur
When a birthday wish gone wrong traps her father in a magical ring, 12-year-old Farrah discovers she’s half-jinn and her father is one of the seven great jinn kings, and she must find a way to navigate the mysteries and dangers of her new world to set things right.
The Turtle of Michigan by Naomi Shihab Nye
In this highly anticipated stand-alone companion to The Turtle of Oman, Aref travels from Muscat, Oman, to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he is reunited with his father and tries to adjust to his new life.
Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
With the school year getting off to a rough start, Syrian American seventh grader Kareem finds himself stuck between friends, between football, between parents and between right and wrong, and must find his voice amidst the chaos.
