A Project of the South Asia National Outreach Consortium
In 1947, Azra and her family took an unforgettable train ride from Dehradun to Lahore, leaving her home and her beloved doll behind. Throughout her journey, Azra draws hope and resilience as she sees the same moon each night amidst the ever changing landscape. (Grades PK-4)
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 find something close to her heart and keep her friendships? Anisa’s quest to find something unique takes the reader through a journey immersed in diverse cultures in her classroom and her own. (Grades 3-7)
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)
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)
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)
Meet Mulla Nasruddin, a legendary character whose adventures and misadventures are enjoyed across the Islamic world. (Grade 5 & under)
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)
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)
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)
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)
