Muslim and Middle Eastern Fiction
Abdel-Fattah, Randa. Does My Head Look Big in This?, 2007. (Y-Abdel-Fattah)
Amal decides to wear the hijab, the Muslim head scar, full-time as a badge of her faith
just as she is starting Year Eleven at an exclusive prep school in Australia.
Abdel-Fattah, Randa. Ten Things I Hate About Me; 2009. (Y-Abdel-Fatah)
Jamilah, known in school as Jamie, hides her heritage and tries to pass by dyeing her
hair and wearing contacts, until her conflicted feelings become too much to bear.
Abdel-Fattah, Randa. Where the Streets Had a Name; 2010. (Y-Abdel-Fattah)
Hayaat of Bethlehem faces check points, curfews, and the travel permit system in the
West Bank when she tries to go to her ancestral home in Jerusalem with her best best
friend.
Antieau, Kim. Broken Moon; 2007. (Y-Antieau)
When her brother is kidnapped to race camels in the desert, Nadira overcomes her own
past abuse and, dressed as a boy and armed with knowledge of the powerful storytelling
of the legendary Scherherazade, is determined to find and rescue him.
Budhos, Marina. Ask Me No Questions; 2006. (Y-Budhos)
Nadira, her sister, and their parents leave Bangladesh for New York, but the expiration
of their visas and the events of 9/11 bring frustration, sorrow, and terror for all of them.
Carter, Anne. The Shepherd’s Granddaughter; 2008 (Y-Carter)
Amani longs to be a shepherd like her grandfather. Her family has grazed sheep for
generations, and she has been steeped in her grandfather’s tales about the area.
Cooney, Caroline B. The Terrorist; 1997. (Y-Cooney/Y-P-COO)
Laura, an American living in London, tries to find the person responsible for the death of
her younger brother Billy, who has been killed by a terrorist bomb.
Ellis, Deborah & Eric Waters. Bifocal; 2007. (Y-Ellis)
When a Muslim boy is arrested at a high school on suspicion of terrorist affiliations,
growing tensions divide the student population.
Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner; 2001. (Y-PRD-ELL)
Because the Taliban impose strict limitation son women’s freedom and behavior,
Parvana must disguise herself as a boy so her family can survive after her father’s arrest.
Ellis, Deborah. Parvana’s Journey; 2002. (Y-Ellis/Y-P-ELL)
Parvana buries her father, disguises herself as a boy, and sets out across war-torn
Afghanistan to find the surviving members of her family. Sequel to The Breadwinner.
Ellis, Deborah. Mud City; 2003. (Y-Ellis/Y-P-ELL)
In order to earn enough money to buy her passage out of the refugee camp, Shauzia
dresses like a boy, but is forced into panhandling and ends up in jail, gaining hope only
when a well-meaning American family resches her. Sequel to Parvana’s Journey.
Ellis, Deborah. No Safe Place; 2010. (Y-Ellis)
Adbul, having lost everyone he loves, journeys from Baghdad to Calais, where he sneaks
aboard a boat bound to England, not knowing is a drug ship. When the vessel is involved
in a skirmish and the pilot dies, Abdul and three other stowaways complete the journey.
Lan. Kampung Boy, 2006. (Y-Graphic Novel-Lat)
Relates the life experiences, from birth to beginning boarding school, of a boy growing
up on a rubber plantation in rural Malaysia.
Miklowitz, Gloria D. The Enemy Has a Face; 2003. (Y-P-MIK)
Netta and her family have moved from Israel to LA, and when her older brother
disappears, she becomes convinced he has been abducted by area Palestinians.
Paterson, Katherine. The Day of the Pelican; 2009. (Y-Patterson Historical)
In 1998 when the Kosova hostilities escalate, Meli’s life as an ethnic Albanian changes
forever after her brother escapes his Serbian captors and the entire family flees from one
refugee camp to another until they can immigrate to America.
Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind; 1989. (Y-Staples)
When Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older
many, she must accept the decision or risk the consequences of defying custom.
Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Haveli; 1993. (Y-Staples)
Having relented to the ways of her people in Pakistan and married the older man she was
pledge to, Shabanu is now the victim of his family’s blood feud and the malice of his
wives. Sequel to Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind.
Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Under the Persimmon Tree; 2005. (Y-Staples)
During the 2001 Afghan War, the lives of Najmal, a young refugee from Afghanistan, and
Nusrat, and American-Muslim teacher awaiting her husbands return, intersect at a
school in Pakistan.
Stevenson, Sarah Jamila. The Latte Rebellion; 2011. (Y-Stevenson)
When Asha is called a “towel head” at a pool party, she and her best friend start a club
to raise awareness of mixed-race students that soon sweeps the country, but the hubbub
puts her Ivy League dreams, friendship, and beliefs to the test.
Stine, Catherine. Refugees; 2005. (Y-Stine)
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Dawn, a runaway, connects by phone and e-mail
with Johar, an Afghani assisting her foster mother, a doctor at a Red Cross refugee camp
in Peshawar.
Stratton, Alan. Borderline; 2010. (Y-Stratton)
Despite the strained relationship between them, teen Sami Sabiri risks his life to uncover
the truth when his father is implicated in a terrorist plot.