Anisa’s International Day by Reem Faruqi (HarperCollins, 2022). Anisa is a multi-talented girl and is super excited for the upcoming International Day at school. However, every idea that she has is already taken. Will she …
Middle Grade Readers
Omar Rising
Omar Rising by Aisha Saeed (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2022). Omar Ali receives a scholarship to the distinguished Ghalib Academy Boarding School in Pakistan. He is excited to start school and join clubs and teams, but …
Thirst
Most people in Mumbai live with limited access to water, with frequent shortages. In contrast, the affluent live above, in high-rise buildings with unrestricted water access. This disparity instigates numerous questions for Minni, as she searches for justice to bridge these inequalities. (Grades 5-6)
Words in the Dust
Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy (Scholastic Inc., 2011). Zulaikha, a thirteen-year-old girl in Afghanistan, faces a series of frightening but exhilarating changes in her life as she defies her father and secretly meets with …
Karma
Karma by Cathy Ostlere (Razorbill, Penguin Group, 2011). Written in free verse poems in a diary format, this novel straddles two countries and the clash of Indian cultures in the tale of 15-year-old Maya. (Grade 6 …
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami, Illustrated by Abigail Halpin (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, 2011). Eleven-year-old Dini loves movies, and so when she …
Beyond Bullets: A Photo Journal of Afghanistan
Beyond Bullets: A Photo Journal of Afghanistan by Rafal Gerszak with Dawn Hunter (Annick Press, 2011). Award-winning photographer Rafal Gerszak spent a year embedded with the American troops in Afghanistan to bear witness to its people, …
The Whole Story of Half a Girl
The Whole Story of Half a Girl by Veera Hiranandani (Delacorte Press, 2012). When Sonia’s father loses his job, she must move from her small, supportive private school to a public middle school. The new school, her …
Shadow
Shadow by Michael Morpurgo; illustrated by Christian Birmingham (Feiwel and Friends Book, an imprint of Macmillan, 2012). 14 year old Aman and his mother flee the horrors of war in Afghanistan and escape to England. But just as …
My Basmati Bat Mitzvah
My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J Freedman (Harry N. Abrams, 2013). Tara’s not sure she wants to have a bat mitzvah. Even though she’s attended Hebrew school, her mother’s Indian heritage has a pull on …