Five Novels: A Masterclass in Palestinian Literature for Teens

Seven Stories recently released the cover for the English translation of Taghreed Najjar’s Against the Tide (the award-winning ست الكل), forthcoming next year in Elisabeth Jaquette’s translation. With this translation, there will be a significant body of Palestinian middle grade and young adult literature available in English translation.

We recommend these five books (technically seven, since one is a trilogy) as the anchors of a class in Palestinian literature and translation for teen readers. (Instructors who would like to be in touch with the authors or translators can reach out at info@arablit.org.)

Taghreed Najjar’s Against the Tide, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette (forthcoming February 2027)

It’s been a while since we’ve read this charming novel, which does a beautiful job with not just the character of its protagonist, fifteen-year-old Yusra, but also her friends and family, especially her difficult father. From the publisher:

Against the Tide follows fifteen-year-old Yusra, whose family is changed forever her brother is killed by an Israeli missile, and the collapse of a tunnel between Gaza and Egypt, which leaves her father disabled and unable to support the family.

For a long time, Yusra is forced to beg for handouts from neighbors, but with the encroaching restrictions of an occupied Gaza, Yusra reaches a breaking point. Soon, an idea comes to her: to fix up her father’s fishing boat and take up his line of work. She becomes the first and only fisherwoman in Gaza, where she must abide by the rules imposed on their trade.

One day, when Yusra accidentally goes past the designated three-mile zone where she is allowed to fish, she encounters the Israeli navy. Though she feels threatened, she decides to stand up for herself. Based on the true story of a young Palestinian girl named Madleen Kulab, Against the Tide is not only a middle grade story of resilience, but also a lesson on how the courage of one person can transform the world.

Features illustrations by Palestinian artist Aya Ghanemeh.

There are also teaching materials available on the Dar Salwa website.

Ahlam Bsharat’s Code Name: Butterfly, translated by Nancy Roberts (Neem Tree Press, 2019)

This book is excellent at depicting the political and intellectual coming-of-age of its young Palestinian protagonist and can spark discussion about what it means to come-of-age in a deeply unjust world.

From the publisher:

Life in occupied Palestine isn’t easy. Butterfly is a spirited teenager grappling with the complexities of growing up. Tinged with irony and fueled by unwavering idealism, she navigates a maze of adult duplicities, challenging friendships, and volatile sibling relationships.

Butterfly confronts some of life’s most profound questions: Are the whispers of her father’s potential alliance with the occupiers true? And will Nizar ever return her feelings of affection?

Thrust into a whirlwind of emotions and doubts, Butterfly learns to face the storms of young adulthood where ‘honour’ becomes a word charged with peril and meaning.

This book was a 2018 selection by Librarians and Archivists with Palestine’s for their annual “One Book, Many Communities”  project.

Najlaa Attaallah’s Asad’s Secret, translated by Sawad Hussain (Levine Querido, 2026)

Beautifully warm and page-turning novel set in Gaza that brings teen readers into Asad’s narrowed world world.

From the publisher:

Asad lives in Gaza, in a tiny house, on a narrow street pocked by half-destroyed buildings, in a camp that looks shabby to him and feels claustrophobic. He walks virtually the same route every day to his summer job at a printing press, passing the prison that holds his father, for reasons that have not been fully explained to him. As the oldest son, he feels the weight of responsibility for his seven brothers, his sisters, and his Ummi, who wants him to study hard and excel in school, as all mothers do. Moody and reserved Asad has few friends, and fewer distractions. Thank goodness for Um Fawzi, a feisty, cigarette-smoking old woman, who’s the only one who seems willing to tell it like it is, sharply enough, and with a biting sense of humor that snaps him out of his fog sometimes. There’s also Houriya, a lovely and smart girl, who brings him books to read and sometimes prompts him to think about a future that he can’t truly imagine. There seems to be no escaping. But Asad has a secret, too, a mysterious black bag that holds something important that he keeps hidden from everyone.

Hooda Shawa’s Necklace of Seven Souls, translated by Nour Jaljuli and Sawad Hussain (Restless Books, September 2026)

Fantastic and engaging narrative, with, as Kirkus Reviews notes, an excellent centering questions of colonial collecting practices and artistic ownership.

From the publisher:

Farida is a talented young painter who recreates European masterpieces under the patronizing eye of a Parisian art dealer. Mazen just arrived in France to hunt for a lost family heirloom. When the two meet during a chance encounter at the Louvre museum, they discover a shared history between their grandmothers, both of whom fled Palestine during the Nakba in 1948. Drawn to one another, Mazen and Farida join forces to unearth their past, but a shadowy ring of art forgers has its sights set on Farida. Can she unravel the mystery before it’s too late?

Exploring what it means to live in diaspora, The Necklace of Seven Souls moves from Paris to Haifa, from Aleppo to Tangier, conjuring the jewel tones of the Mediterranean and the bittersweet taste of memory.

We have an interview with Hooda Shawa forthcoming this month.

Sonia Nimr’s Thunderbird trilogy, translated by M Lynx Qualey (University of Texas Press: 2022, 2022, 2024)

As a time-travel fantasy series, these novels the reader a tremendous breadth of knowledge about Palestine across time, from contemporary Ramallah and Jerusalem to the early days of Islam.

From the publisher:

The Thunderbird trilogy is a fast-paced time-traveling fantasy adventure centered on Noor, a young orphaned Palestinian girl who starts in the present and must go back in time to get four magical bird feathers and save the world.

More at Sonia Nimr’s official website and watch video from the launch, hosted by the Radical Books Collective.

With thanks to translator Sawad Hussain for suggesting this list. It’s part of our Women in Translation Month coverage as all these books are by Palestinian women. The field of Arabic literature for teen readers is, by and large, dominated by women writers.