Arab American Heritage Month - Young Adults

Though smaller than most other Arab countries, the gulf states of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates represent some of the most fascinating areas of the Middle East. A blend of traditional and modern, most of these states have become wealthy with oil money, which has allowed them to welcome foreign workers from diverse backgrounds, while retaining their Arab character. This absorbing volume surveys the organization, culture,...

Growing up as a teenager in Amman, Jordan, in the 1980s and 90s, Mufleh knew enough to keep her sexuality a secret. If discovered, her conservative religious community wouldn't hesitate to kill her; she fears her family would cast her out. She made the tough decision to apply for asylum in the United States while attending college, causing her family to break ties with her when she refused to return home. In her memoir, Mufleh shows how she forged...

This summer's exercise in Fahmy family sisterly bonding involves a trip to Disney World--which seems like it is headed for disaster when Huda gets into a fight with a boy making fun of her hijab.

I feel that I have been sleeping all my life and I have woken up and opened my eyes to the world. A beautiful world! But impossible to live in. These are the words of fifteen-year-old Hadiya, blogging from the city of Mosul, Iraq, to let the world know what life is really like as the military occupation of her country unfolds. In many ways, her life is familiar. She worries about exams and enjoys watching Friends during the rare hours that the electricity...

After discovering the body of fourteen-year-old Jawad Ali in Jackson Park, seventeen-year-old journalism student Safiya Mirza begins investigating his murder and ends up confronting white supremacy in her own high school.

"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. 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"...

A brilliant military strategist, superb horseman, statesman, philosopher, Muslim saint...Emir Abdel Kader (1808-1883) was an international celebrity in his own time, known for his generosity and kindness even towards enemies. Today he is, recognized as, one of the noblest leaders of the 19th-century and a pioneer in interfaith dialogue. This fascinating biography of the heroic Arab, who led the resistance to the French conquest of Algeria, endured...

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.

"A graphic memoir by young Syrian Muhammad Najem, who rose to international notoriety during the Syrian Civil War due to his on-the-ground reporting using social media"--

Adam and Zayneb embark on the Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia, but as one wedge after another drives them apart while they make their way through rites in the holy city, Adam and Zayneb start to wonder if their meeting was just an oddity after all.