A Very Large Expanse of Sea
A Very Large Expanse of Sea By Tahereh Mafi Published by HarperCollins Publishers ISBN-13: 9780062866578 Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “A moving coming-of-age narrative about the viciousness of Islamophobia and the unwavering power of love in post-9/11 America.” —Kirkus Reviews Description It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped. Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired...
Read MoreAlmost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir
Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir By Robin Ha Published by HarperCollins Publishers ISBN-13: 9780062685094 Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “A poignant and unvarnished depiction of immigration—both the heartache and the rewards.” —School Library Journal Description For as long as she can remember, it’s been Robin and her mom against the world. Growing up as the only child of a single mother in Seoul, Korea, wasn’t always easy, but it has bonded them fiercely together. So when a vacation to visit friends in Huntsville, Alabama,...
Read MoreSatoko and Nada
Satoko and Nada By Yupechika Published by Seven Seas Entertainment LLC ISBN-13: 9781626929098 Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “…makes Ramadan approachable to young audiences.” —School Library Journal Description Satoko, a Japanese student studying in America, has a new roommate: a Saudi Arabian woman named Nada! They might have different customs, but through mutual respect—and the hilarious adventures of their daily life—Satoko and Nada prove that friendship knows no borders. Groups Represented Japanese Saudi Themes #OwnVoices...
Read MoreDear Haiti, Love Alaine
Dear Haiti, Love Alaine By Maike Moulite, Maritza Moulite Published by Inkyard Press ISBN-13: 9781335777096 Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “A strong offering mixing a romance, mystery, and adventure in a Caribbean travelogue.” —School Library Journal Description You might ask the obvious question: What do I, a seventeen-year-old Haitian American from Miami with way too little life experience, have to say about anything? Actually, a lot. Thanks to “the incident” (don’t ask), I’m spending the next two months doing what my school is calling a...
Read MoreThis Time Will Be Different
This Time Will Be Different By Misa Sugiura Published by HarperCollins Publishers ISBN-13: 9780062473448 Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “…masterly weaving of the personal, political and historical…” —The New York Times Book Review Description The author of the Asian Pacific American Award-winning It’s Not Like It’s a Secret is back with another smartly drawn coming-of-age novel that weaves riveting family drama, surprising humor, and delightful romance into a story that will draw you in from the very first page. Katsuyamas...
Read MoreButterfly Yellow
Butterfly Yellow By Thanhha Lai Published by HarperCollins Publishers ISBN: 9780062229212 Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “Masterfully conjures grace, beauty, and humor out of the tragic wake of the Vietnam War.” —Kirkus Reviews Description In the final days of the Việt Nam War, Hằng takes her little brother, Linh, to the airport, determined to find a way to safety in America. In a split second, Linh is ripped from her arms—and Hằng is left behind in the war-torn country. Six years later, Hằng has made the brutal journey from Việt Nam and...
Read MoreI Am the Night Sky
I Am the Night Sky By Next Wave Muslim Initiative Writers Published by Shout Mouse Press, Inc. ISBN-13: 9781945434938 Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat Description During an era characterized by both hijabi fashion models and enduring post-9/11 stereotypes, ten Muslim American teenagers came together to explore what it means to be young and Muslim in America today. These teens represent the tremendous diversity within the American Muslim community, and their book, like them, contains multitudes. Bilal writes about being a Muslim musician. Imaan imagines a...
Read MoreThe Poet X
The Poet X By Elizabeth Acevedo Published by HarperCollins Publishers ISBN-13: 9780062662804 Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “Poignant and real, beautiful and intense, this story of a girl struggling to define herself is as powerful as Xiomara’s name: “one who is ready for war.”” —Kirkus Reviews Description Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to...
Read MoreHere to Stay
Here to Stay By Sara Farizan Published by Algonquin Young Readers ISBN-13: 9781616207007 Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “A private New England high school becomes the scene of bigoted bullying in a timely novel by Farizan.” —Publishers Weekly Description Bijan Majidi is: • Shy around girls • Really into comics • Decent at basketball Bijan Majidi is not: • A terrorist What happens when a kid who’s flown under the radar for most of high school gets pulled off the bench to make the winning basket in a varsity playoff game? If his name is Bijan...
Read MoreNot The Girls You’re Looking For
Not The Girls You’re Looking For By Aminah Mae Safi Published by Feiwel & Friends Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “…offers Arab and Muslim readers a teenager they can relate to as they too learn to navigate racial and religious tensions in a predominantly white society.” —Kirkus Reviews Description Lulu Saad doesn’t need your advice, thank you very much. She’s got her three best friends and nothing can stop her from conquering the known world. Sure, for half a minute she thought she’d nearly drowned a cute guy at...
Read MoreDriving By Starlight
Driving By Starlight By Anat Deracine Published by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “…offers an eye-opening window into the rigidly restricted lives, clandestine rebellions, and consequential choices of women in a land where ‘everything we want is forbidden or dangerous.'” —Publishers Weekly Description Sixteen-year-olds Leena and Mishie are best friends. They delight in small rebellions against the Saudi cultural police—secret Western clothing, forbidden music, flirtations. But Leena wants college,...
Read MoreThe Radius Of Us
The Radius Of Us By Marie Marquardt Published by St. Martin’s Press Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “Tackling the issues of gang violence, immigration, mental health, and cultural bias, this is a compelling story that delivers profound messages through engaging, accessible prose.” —School Library Journal Description Ninety seconds can change a life — not just daily routine, but who you are as a person. Gretchen Asher knows this, because that’s how long a stranger held her body to the ground. When a car sped toward them and Gretchen’s...
Read MoreSoldier Boy
Solider Boy By Keely Hutton Published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “Unapologetically searing and catastrophically truthful, a reminder to readers that it demands much to meet harsh realities with impossible courage.” —Kirkus Reviews Description Soldier Boy begins with the story of Ricky Richard Anywar, abducted at age fourteen in 1989 to fight with Joseph Kony’s rebel army in Uganda’s decades-long civil war. Ricky is trained, armed, and forced to fight government soldiers alongside his brutal...
Read MoreIt’s Not Like It’s A Secret
It’s Not Like It’s A Secret By Misa Sugiura Published by HarperCollins Publishers Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “Well-paced, brimming with drama, and utterly vital.” —Kirkus Reviews Description Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like the fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend....
Read MoreThief Girl
Thief Girl By Ingrid Lee Published by Lorimer, James & Company, Limited Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “A modern teen novel with emotional veracity and real intelligence.” —Children’s Literature Description Sixteen-year-old Avvy Go straddles the line— between the immigrant neighborhood were she lives and works and the established neighborhood where she attends high school, the line between right and wrong, and the line between telling secrets and keeping them. Set in an urban Chinatown neighborhood, Thief Girl is a frank look at...
Read MoreIllegal
Illegal By Bettina Restrepo Published by HarperCollins Publishers Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “…an excellent choice for a book discussion group or a class conversation starter about immigration, prejudice, or gangs…” —VOYA Description A promise. Quinceañera. A promise that we would be together on my fifteenth birthday . . . Instead, Nora is on a desperate journey far away from home. When her father leaves their beloved Mexico in search of work, Nora stays behind. She fights to make sense of her loss while living in...
Read MoreHow Dare The Sun Rise
How Dare The Sun Rise By Sandra Uwiringiyimana Published by HarperCollins Publishers Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “The title is a critical piece of literature, contributing to the larger refugee narrative in a way that is complex and nuanced but still accessible for a YA audience.” —School Library Journal Description This profoundly moving memoir is the remarkable and inspiring true story of Sandra Uwiringiyimana, a girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who tells the tale of how she survived a massacre, immigrated to America,...
Read MoreStepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey
Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey By Margriet Ruurs Art by Nizar Badr Translated by Falah Raheem Published by Orca Book Publishers ISBN 9781459814929 Age Range: 13 and older Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “An astonishing book that allows the humanity of refugees to speak louder than politics and introduces readers to one of Syria’s incredible artists.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Description This unique picture book was inspired by the stone artwork of Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr, discovered by chance by Canadian children’s...
Read MoreCultural Research: Either the Beginning or the End of the World
Author’s Note on Research By Terry Farish Either the Beginning or the End of the World delves into a horrific family memory carried over generations. The memory is of family members who starved to death during Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge genocide. I’ve been on a long journey into Cambodian history and culture to begin to understand what this memory could mean to a young girl two generations later. The books I read and sources I interviewed tell a story themselves about my focus. It wasn’t on the wars, but on living after surviving them. I had read widely on wars in...
Read MoreWEAR YOUR WELCOME
