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 instead is met with many challenges that he has to overcome in an unfair and unequal educational system. (Grades 5-9)
Middle Grade Readers
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
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 an old woman who teaches her to read, her older sister gets married, and American troops offer her surgery to fix her disfiguring cleft lip. (Grade 6 & up)
Karma
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 & up)
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything
Eleven-year-old Dini loves movies, and so when she learns that her family is moving to India for two years, her devastation over leaving her best friend in Maryland is tempered by the possibility of meeting her favorite actress, Dolly Singh. (Grade 6 & up)
Beyond Bullets: A Photo Journal of Afghanistan
Award-winning photographer Rafal Gerszak spent a year embedded with the American troops in Afghanistan to bear witness to its people, culture, and the impact of war. (Grade 6 & above)
The Whole Story of Half a Girl
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 father’s diagnosis of clinical depression, and her half- Jewish and half- Indian heritage leave Sonia feeling more confused about herself, her friends, and her family. (Grades 5-8)
Shadow
14 year old Aman and his mother flee the horrors of war in Afghanistan and escape to England. But just as they are getting settled in their new home, Aman and his mother find themselves in a detention center. Their only hope is Aman’s friend Matt, Matt’s grandfather, and the dream of finding Shadow, Aman’s trusted and loyal canine companion. (Grades 5-8)
My Basmati Bat Mitzvah
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 her, and she wonders if she dishonors her Indian grandparents by declaring her Judaism. (Grades 5-8)
Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal
Kamala Khan is many things – a teenager, Pakistani-American, Muslim, Fangirl, and the super hero protector of Jersey City! How is she able to balance all these roles and be the perfect daughter to her parents? Can Kamala be the new Ms. Marvel and still honor her heritage? (Grades 5-8)