A Reading List for Arab American Heritage MonthLike this list

15 items

• Between Two Moons

  a Novel

  Abdel Gawad, Aisha,

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  During Ramadan in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, twin sisters Amira and Lina stand on the brink of adulthood, eager for a summer of freedom before graduation—but their plans unravel when their older brother returns from prison, bringing tension and secrecy…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Martyr!

  Akbar, Kaveh,

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  Cyrus Shams, a troubled poet battling addiction and grief, searches for meaning in the wake of his mother’s tragic death and his father’s harsh immigrant life, becoming obsessed with martyrs as he unravels family mysteries that blur the lines…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Love Is An Ex-country

  a Memoir

  Jarrar, Randa,

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  Writer Randa Jarrar embarks on a cross-country journey from California to Connecticut, weaving together personal memories, global travels, and the story of a pioneering Egyptian belly dancer as she reflects on a life shaped by resilience—confronting…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Starstruck

  a Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark

  Nance, Sarafina,

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  In Starstruck, Sarafina El-Badry Nance traces her journey from a star-gazing childhood to a career in astronomy, confronting misogyny, racism, personal trauma, and serious illness along the way, and ultimately crafting a powerful story of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• What Strange Paradise

  El Akkad, Omar, 1982-

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  After a migrant shipwreck leaves countless dead, nine-year-old Syrian boy Amir survives and is rescued by Vänna, a disaffected island teenager who feels like an outsider in her own home; as they journey together despite language barriers, their…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

  El Akkad, Omar, 1982-

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  Sparked by a viral tweet during the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad’s nonfiction debut reflects on his disillusionment with the West’s promises of justice, drawing on decades of reporting to argue that its ideals often exclude the most…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bride of the Sea

  a Novel

  Quotah, Eman,

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  In Bride of the Sea, a crumbling marriage between Muneer and Saeedah leads to the mother abducting their daughter, Hanadi, sparking a yearslong search that fractures families across continents; as Hanadi grows up caught between countries and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Conditional Citizens

  on Belonging in America

  Lalami, Laila, 1968-

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  In this incisive and personal work, Laila Lalami traces her journey from Moroccan immigrant to U.S. citizen to examine how race, origin, and gender continue to shape and limit the promises of American citizenship, revealing how inequality persists…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• You Exist Too Much

  a Novel

  Arafat, Zaina,

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  In You Exist Too Much, a queer Palestinian American woman navigates shame, desire, and identity across the U.S. and the Middle East, tracing her journey from a conflicted adolescence to adulthood marked by turbulent relationships and emotional…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Thirty Names of Night

  a Novel

  Joukhadar, Zeyn,

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  In The Thirty Names of Night, a closeted Syrian American trans boy mourning his mother’s death discovers a mysterious journal linking her to a vanished artist and a rare bird, uncovering hidden histories of queer and trans people in his community;…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Angel of History

  Alameddine, Rabih

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  In The Angel of History, Yemeni-born poet Jacob spends a night in a psych clinic confronting his life amid the AIDS crisis and war, recalling his childhood in Cairo, adolescence under a wealthy father, and adulthood as a gay Arab man in San…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Beauty of Your Face

  a Novel

  Mustafah, Sahar,

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  The Beauty of Your Face follows Afaf Rahman, a Palestinian-American school principal, whose life is upended when a shooter—radicalized online—targets her Muslim school; through her memories and reflections, the novel offers a moving, incisive…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Other Americans

  Lalami, Laila, 1968-

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  In The Other Americans, the death of Moroccan immigrant Driss Guerraoui in a California hit-and-run brings together his family and community—each shaped by secrets, fear, and longing—and through their interwoven stories of race, religion, and class,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Salt Houses

  Alyan, Hala, 1986-

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  Salt Houses follows Alia and her family as they are uprooted by the Six-Day War and later Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, tracing generations across Nablus, Kuwait City, Beirut, Paris, and Boston, and exploring the challenges, losses, and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Woman Is No Man

  a Novel

  Rum, Etaf,

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  Etaf Rum’s A Woman Is No Man is a powerful debut following three generations of Palestinian-American women as they navigate family, culture, and personal desire in the aftermath of intimate violence, earning widespread acclaim as a gripping,…Read moreRead more of this annotation