The books below are found as print books in our SHS Learning Commons, on MackinVIA, and in Libby, the digital platform of the Scott County Library.
Ayesha at Last by
Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her one hundredth marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn't want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid, who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and who dresses like he belongs in the seventh century.
When a surprise engagement is announced between Khalid and Hafsa, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family. Looking into the rumors, she finds she has to deal with not only what she discovers about Khalid, but also the truth she realizes about herself.
Everything Sad Is Untrue by
As Khosrou (whom everyone calls Daniel) stands in front of his Oklahoma middle school classmates, he tries to tell them his story from the jasmine-scented city of Isfahan to the terrifying journey out of Iran steps ahead of the secret police to the refugee camps of Italy.
Not the Girls You're Looking For by
In this coming-of-age novel, Lulu Saad considers herself both American and Arab, which in her American classmates' eyes makes her a terrorist, while her Muslim family disapproves of her American lifestyle. Tackling her junior year at her Texas prep school with a chip on her shoulder, Lulu makes a significant, impetuous mistake that could cost her more than she bargained for.
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know by
Seventeen-year-old Khayyam Maquet is spending the summer in Paris with her parents, but she'd rather be in Chicago dealing with her maybe-ex-boyfriend and her blown chance at getting into her dream college. After a chance meeting with a cute descendant of Alexandre Dumas, Khayyam tries to track down the real-life nineteenth-century Muslim woman who inspired Alexandre Dumas, Eugène Delacroix, and Lord Byron with her tragic love story.
Zara Hossain Is Here by
Laying low as a Pakistani immigrant awaiting citizenship with her family has become a matter of course for Zara Hossain, 17. Having dealt with racism and suspicion from people in her Corpus Christi, Texas community her whole life, Zara has become a master at brushing aggressions aside. However, when a racial attack at school includes threats against her, Zara pursues action against the perpetrator, a popular white boy, and the fallout broadens to a racially motivated crime against her family.
The Kite Runner by
Amir, haunted by his betrayal of Hassan, the son of his father's servant and a childhood friend, returns to Kabul as an adult after he learns Hassan has been killed, in an attempt to redeem himself by rescuing Hassan's son from a life of slavery to a Taliban official.
The Lines We Cross by
Michael's parents are leaders of a new anti-immigrant political party called Aussie Values which is trying to halt the flood of refugees from the Middle East; Mina fled Afghanistan with her family ten years ago, and just wants to concentrate on fitting in and getting into college--but the mutual attraction they feel demands that they come to terms with their family's concerns and decide where they stand in the ugly anti-Muslim politics of the time.
Here to Stay by
When a cyberbully sends the entire high school a picture of basketball hero Bijan Majidi, photo-shopped to look like a terrorist, the school administration promises to find and punish the culprit, but Bijan just wants to pretend the incident never happened and move on.
How It All Blew Up by
Fleeing to Rome in the wake of coming out to his Muslim family, a failed relationship, and blackmail, eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi embarks on a more authentic life with new friends and dates in the Sistine Chapel before an encounter with a U.S. Customs officer places his hard-won freedom at risk.
Internment by
Set in the near-future United States, Muslim Americans are being taken to internment camps, which followed book burnings, curfews, and mandatory viewing of the new president's national security addresses. Seventeen-year-old Layla Amin watches with contempt at the complicity of the community and her own parents who accept their current plight. She makes friends both within and outside the camp intent on starting a revolution that will end the violence and Islamophobia.
Love from a to Z by
A marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes—because they make French fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together. An oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are. But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. She’s angry. When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt’s house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break. Fueled by the guilt of getting her friends in trouble, she resolves to try out a newer, “nicer” version of herself in a place where no one knows her. Then her path crosses with Adam’s. Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam’s stopped going to classes, intent, instead, on perfecting the making of things. Intent on keeping the memory of his mom alive for his little sister. Adam’s also intent on keeping his diagnosis a secret from his grieving father. Alone, Adam and Zayneb are playing roles for others, keeping their real thoughts locked away in their journals. Until a marvel and an oddity occurs…
Down and Across by
Sixteen-year-old Iranian American Scott Ferdowsi has a history of quitting things and he has no idea what he wants to do with his life. His parents want him to choose a career and apply for college. But when they visit Iran for a month and leave him home to focus on his internship, Scott skips town and travels to Washington, D.C. to visit a famous professor for advice about success. There he meets college student Fiora Buchanan who writes crossword puzzles. During Scott's summer of freedom, he finds answers about who he is and what he wants in unexpected places.
We Hunt the Flame by
People lived because she killed. People died because he lived. Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be. War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.
Home Is Not a Country by
Muslim immigrant Nina feels out of place in her suburban neighborhood and school; her only friend is her neighbor Haitham. While she wonders what her life would have been like if they had stayed in their home country, Nina begins to grow distant from her mother. When Haitham is attacked in a brutal hate crime that sends him to the hospital, Nina begins to realize that instead of wishing for another life, she'll need to fight for the one she has.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by
Mariam and her mother live an isolated existence on the outskirts of a small town in Afghanistan because Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of the town's richest man. When her mother dies, fifteen-year-old Mariam is betrothed to a cobbler in the faraway city of Kabul. After several years of a childless marriage, Mariam's husband marries a second wife, a girl whose boyfriend has fled to the refugee camps in Pakistan.
A Map of Home by
Nidali, the rebellious daughter of an Egyptian-Greek mother and a Palestinian father, narrates the story of her childhood in Kuwait, her teenage years in Egypt (to where she and her family fled the 1990 Iraqi invasion), and her family's last flight to Texas. Nidali mixes humor with a sharp, loving portrait of an eccentric middle-class family, and this perspective keeps her buoyant through the hardships she encounters: the humiliation of going through a checkpoint on a visit to her father's home in the West Bank; the fights with her father, who wants her to become a famous professor and stay away from boys; the end of her childhood as Iraq invades Kuwait on her thirteenth birthday; and the scare she gives her family when she runs away from home.
Not the Girls You're Looking For by
In this coming-of-age novel, Lulu Saad considers herself both American and Arab, which in her American classmates' eyes makes her a terrorist, while her Muslim family disapproves of her American lifestyle. Tackling her junior year at her Texas prep school with a chip on her shoulder, Lulu makes a significant, impetuous mistake that could cost her more than she bargained for.
The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by
Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali has always been fascinated by the universe around her and the laws of physics that keep everything in order. But her life at home isn't so absolute.Unable to come out to her conservative Muslim parents, she keeps that part of her identity hidden. And that means keeping her girlfriend, Ariana, a secret from them too. Luckily, only a few more months stand between her carefully monitored life at home and a fresh start at Caltech in the fall. But when Rukhsana's mom catches her and Ariana together, her future begins to collapse around her.Devastated and confused, Rukhsana's parents whisk her off to stay with their extended family in Bangladesh where, along with the loving arms of her grandmother and cousins, she is met with a world of arranged marriages, religious tradition, and intolerance. Fortunately, Rukhsana finds allies along the way and, through reading her grandmother's old diary, finds the courage to take control of her future and fight for her love.A gritty novel that doesn't shy away from the darkest corners of ourselves, ????
The Henna Wars by
When teenager Nishat comes out to her Bangladeshi parents, they are less than supportive, so she hides her disappointment by throwing herself into an entrepreneurial school challenge for which she creates a business showcasing henna tattoo art. A girl she has a secret crush on, Flávia, also decides to do the same business idea, which initially angers Nishat and fuels a rivalry, until she realizes that the business may be Flávia's way of telling Nishat how she feels about her. Now Nishat must decide whether to keep her lesbianism a secret for her parents' sake, or give her relationship with Flávia a chance.
She Wore Red Trainers by
When Ali first meets Amirah, he notices everything about her--her hijab, her long eyelashes, and her red trainers--in the time it takes to have one look, before lowering his gaze. And, although Ali is still coming to terms with the loss of his mother and exploring his identity as a Muslim, and although Amirah has sworn never to get married, they can't stop thinking about each other. Can Ali and Amirah ever have a halal 'happily ever after'?
If You Could Be Mine by
Seventeen-year-olds Sahar and Nasrin, two Iranian girls, have loved one another since they were both six, but in Iran that is enough to get them both killed. However, sex change operations are not illegal--Sahar could become a man and marry Nasrin, but that might mean giving up who she truly is inside.
An Emotion of Great Delight by
n 2003, Muslim American teen Shadi is crumbling from sadness and stress, very little of which is related to the hatred she's feeling from peers at school due to the recent 9/11 attacks. Shadi's brother was killed in a car accident and the resulting stress on her family likely led to her father's heart attack and her mother's deep depression. Feeling alone and floundering, Shadi's only lifeline is her former friend's brother Ali, who becomes a source of support--and maybe something more--during this time of family and political turmoil.
Saints and Misfits by
Janna Yusuf is a sophomore trying to find her place within the splinters of her broken family, crushing on a cute boy, and finding hope within her Muslim faith. But an attempted sexual assault by a devout young man at her mosque has shaken her ability to trust others.
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by
In 2002, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl named Shirin starts over at yet another high school, having dealt with the prejudice and abuse that followed 9/11. She copes with the anti-Islamic animosity by turning to music and break-dancing. She meets Ocean James, who comes from a very different background, but really seems to want to get to know her. But she's had the walls up for so long, she doesn't know if she can really let him in.
Written in the Stars by
Growing up in Florida, Naila has always known her Pakistani parents would arrange her marriage, but then she falls in love with Saif. Her angry parents take her back to Pakistan to visit relatives and explore her roots. While there, Naila's parents find her a husband and make arrangements for her to marry him. Everything Naila has is taken away from her and she finds herself trapped in a foreign country against her will. Naila can only hope Saif will find her before it's too late.
Like a Love Story by
Iranian-born New Yorker, Reza, is terrified of his own homosexuality amid the 1980s AIDS crisis, equating being gay with dead men. He meets aspiring fashion designer Judy and her best friend Art, an openly gay photographer, who are united in AIDS activism because of their mutual love of Judy's uncle Stephen, who is gay and has AIDS. Both Art and Judy find they are attracted to Reza, and believing he should be with a woman, Reza and Judy begin dating despite the undeniable feelings Reza and Art have for each other.
A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by
Teenager Tareq enjoyed a humble but peaceful life with his family in Syria until a bomb strike destroyed their happiness with one fatal blast. Their only hope of survival becomes to escape their homeland, but their new lives as refugees force them to face danger at every turn.
Kiss and Tell by
Canadian teenager Hunter Drake's not really sure how fame happened, but almost overnight his boy band Kiss & Tell became a sensation and now they're embarking on their first North American tour. Just as their tour begins, Hunter breaks up with his boyfriend Aiden, and Aiden posts their sexting messages to social media.
