All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (Penguin Young Readers Group, 2022). The story chronicles the lives of Noor and Salahudin, close high school friends who share their Pakistani-American heritage. Their familial challenges unfold as Noor …
Highly Commended
Meet Me in Mumbai
Meet Me in Mumbai by Sabina Khan (Scholastic Press). A story about love and family that spans two generations – a connection that brings Ayesha as a visiting graduate student to the US, and Mira, …
The Katha Chest
The Katha Chest by Radhiah Chowdhury and Illustrated by Lavanya Naidu (Young Asiyah learns her family history through her grandmother’s chest of richly patterned katha quilts, hand-stitched from layers of repurposed, memory-laden, sari fabric. Asiyah’s …
The Wise Fool: Fables from the Islamic World
The Wise Fool: Fables from the Islamic World by Shahrukh Husain, illustrations by Micha Archer (Barefoot Books, 2011). Meet Mulla Nasruddin, a legendary character whose adventures and misadventures are enjoyed across the Islamic world. (Grade 5 …
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 …
Torn
Torn by David Massey (Chicken House, 2012). The story follows Ellie, a 19-year-old British medic, during her tour of duty in Afghanistan. Her squad is attached to a small troop of American SEALs who must find …
Tina’s Mouth: an Existential Comic Diary
Tina’s Mouth: an Existential Comic Diary by Keshni Kashyap, illustrations by Mari Araki (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012). Tina Malhotra, a sophomore at the Yarborough Academy in Southern California, creates an existential diary for an assignment …