Palestinian Literature for Middle Grade and YA Readers: 14 Recommended Books

Earlier this month, we reviewed & recommended nine Palestinian picture books. This week, we’re recommending both middle grade novels (for ages 8-108) and young-adult novels (for ages 13-113). Another list of recommendations is available from our friends at HadiBadi (scroll to the bottom for English), and back in 2021, we recommended 15 children’s books by Palestinian authors for translation; thus far, just one on the list has been translated.

The books below are recommended by members of the ArabLit collective, our friends, and our children. Please add your own favorites in the comments or email us at info@arablit.org.

8+ 

Fiction

Thunderbird Books I and II, Sonia Nimr, translated by M Lynx Qualey. (English & Arabic)

An outsized time-travel fantasy adventure that follows young Noor across checkpoints in contemporary Palestine and back through time in search of feathers that will help seal a breach in the wall between worlds. The third and final book in the trilogy is forthcoming next year from University of Texas Press.

The Dragon of Bethlehem (تنين بيت لحم), by Hooda El Shuwa (Arabic)

Huda El Shuwa’s 2017 YA novel Dragon of Bethlehem is built around a 16-year-old who lives in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp just south of Bethlehem. In 2018, it was turned into a musical narrative by Faraj Sulaiman, and presented by narrator Fida’ Zaidan and the The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music. This wonderful, fantastical tale follows the bullied young Khidr who meets a dragon that changes his life. Read an excerpt in translation at Words Without Borders.

 

Nonfiction

We Are Palestinian: A Celebration of Culture and Tradition, by Reem Kassis, ill. Noha Eilouti (English)

From a review on ArabKidLitNow: “At over a 100 pages of full-color double spreads, it explores historic and contemporary Palestinian themes in six chapters: Geography, Cultural Symbols, Creative Minds, Agriculture, Cuisine, Performing Arts, History and Religion. We’re taken on a tour of the fascinating nooks and crannies (and churches and caves, bakeries and local crafts) of places within Israel now, as well as Gaza and West Bank cities such as Bethlehem and Ramallah, giving just enough history for context and interest, and interspersed with fun facts and cultural detail.”

13+

Fiction

Against the Tide (ست الكل), by Taghreed Najjar (Arabic)

Shortlisted for the Etisalat Children Literature Award 2013, this book follows 15-year-old Yusra, who is faced with a choice. Either she accepts her new life as it is, or she defies society’s expectations to do something no woman in Gaza has ever done before. After the tragic death of her elder brother by an Israeli rocket, and an unfortunate accident that leaves her father paralyzed and bound to his wheelchair, Yusra’s family is forced to beg for handouts from their neighbors. Between her family’s struggles and the restrictions of life in occupied Palestine, Yusra feels like the walls are closing in on her. Then she has an idea: she decides to fix up her father’s fishing boat and take up his trade to become the first and only fisherwoman in Gaza. Read an excerpt in English translation by Elisabeth Jaquette at Words Without Borders.

Mystery of the Falcon’s Eye (لغز عين الصقر), by Taghreed Najjar (Arabic)

Shortlisted for the Etisalat Award for Children’s Literature Award in 2014, this YA mystery follows Ziad and his family. When the discovery of an old family heirloom reveals a cryptic glimpse into his family’s past, 17-year-old refugee Ziad must embark on a dangerous journey across the impenetrable border that divides him from the buried secrets of a past Palestine, a journey which may hold the key to his future. More, including a sample by Joseph Devine.

Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands (رحلات عجيبة في البلاد الغريبة), by Sonia Nimr (English & Arabic)

From the publisher: “Sonia Nimr’s award-winning Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands is a richly imagined feminist-fable-plus-historical-novel that tells an episodic travel narrative, like that of the great 14th century Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta, through the eyes of a clever and irrepressible young Palestinian woman.” Winner of the Etisalat Book Award in the original Arabic and a Palestine Book Award in English translation.

Trees for the Absentees (أشجار للناس الغائبين), by Ahlam Bsharat, translated from Arabic by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp and Sue Copeland (English & Arabic)

From the publisher: “Young love, meddling relatives, heart-to-hearts with friends real and imagined – Philistia’s world is that of an ordinary university student, except that in occupied Palestine, and when your father is in indefinite detention, nothing is straightforward. Philistia is closest to her childhood, and to her late grandmother and her imprisoned father, when she’s at her part-time job washing women’s bodies at the ancient Ottoman hammam in Nablus, the West Bank. A midwife and corpse washer in her time, Grandma Zahia taught Philistia the ritual ablutions and the secrets of the body: the secrets of life and death. On the brink of adulthood, Philistia embarks on a journey through her country’s history – a magical journey, and one of loss and centuries of occupation. As trees are uprooted around her, Philistia searches for a place of refuge, a place where she can plant a memory for the ones she’s lost.” Shortlisted for the 2020 GLLI Translated YA Book Prize and for the 2020 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize.

Code Name: Butterfly (أسمي الحركي فراشة), by Ahlam Bsharat, translated by Nancy Roberts (English & Arabic)

From the publisher: “With irony and poignant teenage idealism, Butterfly draws us into her world of adult hypocrisy, sibling rivalries, girlfriends’ power plays, unrequited love…not to mention the political tension of life under occupation. As she observes her fragile environment with all its conflicts, Butterfly is compelled to question everything around her. Is her father a collaborator for the occupiers? Will Nizar ever give her the sign she’s waiting for? How will her friendship with the activist Mays and the airhead Haya survive the unpredictable storms ahead? And why is ‘honour’ such a dangerous word, anyway?”

Masa (ماسة), by Hani al-Salmi (Arabic)

After Masa’s grandmother dies, the family decides to plant cabbage to fulfill her final wish. At the same time, Israelis are building a wall that divides the family’s farmland, and the initial desire to grow cabbage takes on other dimensions: to express the Palestinians’ determination to stand firm and not to surrender to the separation Wall. In light of all the challenges resulting from the occupation, will the crop succeed? A novel full of humor, vibrant details, and the desires of puberty. Read a review in Arabic.

Where the Streets Had a Name ( حينما كان للشوارع أسماء للكاتب), by Randa Abdel Fattah (English & Arabic)

From the publisher: “Thirteen-year-old Hayaat is on a mission. She believes a handful of soil from her grandmother’s ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved Sitti Zeynab’s life. The only problem is the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank, as well as the check points, the curfews, the permit system and Hayaat’s best-friend Samy, who is mainly interested in football and the latest elimination on X-Factor, but always manages to attract trouble. But luck is on their side. Hayaat and Samy have a curfew-free day to travel to Jerusalem. However, while their journey may only be a few kilometres long, it may take a lifetime to complete.”

Me, My Friend, and the Donkey (أنا وصديقي والحمار), by Mahmoud Shukair (Arabic)

Me, My Friend, and the Donkey is a humorous detective adventure for teens. Set in and around Jerusalem, it tells the story of Mahmoud (the narrator) and Muhammad (his friend) as they try to find Muhammad’s stolen donkey. In 2018, the novel was selected by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) for its honor list of the top 100 children’s novels from around the world. Read an excerpt in Anam Zafar’s translation.

Nonfiction

Tasting the Sky, a Palestinian Childhood, by Ibtisam Barakat (English)

From the publisher: “In this groundbreaking memoir set in Ramallah during the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Ibtisam Barakat captures what it is like to be a child whose world is shattered by war. With candor and courage, she stitches together memories of her childhood: fear and confusion as bombs explode near her home and she is separated from her family; the harshness of life in the Middle East as a Palestinian refugee; her unexpected joy when she discovers Alef, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. This is the beginning of her passionate connection to words, and as language becomes her refuge, allowing her to piece together the fragments of her world, it becomes her true home.”

Balcony on the Moon, Coming of Age in Palestine, by Ibtisam Barakat (English)

From the publisher: “Picking up where Ibtisam Barakat’s first memoir, Tasting the Sky, left off, Balcony on the Moon follows her through her childhood and adolescence in Palestine from 1972-1981 in the aftermath of the Six-Day War.”