Vaneh Assadourian
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"A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States, perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Aisha Saeed. Jude never thought she'd be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. At first, everything in America...
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Belmont Library Latest: National Arab-American Heritage Month (April 9, 2024)
NPR: Books We Love 2023
NPR: Books We Love 2023
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Raised in a conservative and emotionally volatile Palestinian family in Brooklyn, Yara thought she would finally feel free when she married a charming entrepreneur who took her to the suburbs. She's gotten to follow her dreams, completing an undergraduate degree in Art and landing a good job at the local college. As a traditional wife, she also raises their two school-aged daughters, takes care of the house, and has dinner ready when her husband gets...
4) Allies
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"June 6, 1944: The Nazis are terrorizing Europe on their evil quest to conquer the world. The only way to stop them? The biggest, most top-secret operation ever, with the Allied nations coming together -- by land, sea, and air -- to storm German-occupied France. Welcome to D-Day. Dee Carpenter, a young U.S. soldier, is on a boat racing toward the French coast. Dee -- along with his brothers-in-arms -- is terrified. He feels the weight of World War...
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"The warm and winning story of starting a bookstore where there were none, Shelf Life recounts Nadia Wassef's troubles and triumphs as founder and manager of Cairo-based Diwan"--
Cairo, 2002. with her sister, Hind, and their friend, Nihal, Wassef founded Diwan, a fiercely independent bookstore. They were three young women with no business degrees, no formal training, and nothing to lose. At the time, culture was languishing under government mismanagement,...
7) Resist
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In Allies, Alan Gratz's thrilling novel of D-Day, we met Samira, a young girl who is part of the underground French resistance during World War II. Samira cracks codes and trades secrets in order to sabotage the Nazis' plans.In Resist, we delve deeper into Samira's story. Here, we follow Samira as she journeys through the Nazi-occupied French countryside, on a daring rescue mission to find her captured mother. Accompanied only by a loyal dog named...
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"Set in Iran, this extraordinary debut novel takes readers into the everyday lives of the Kurds. Leila dreams of making films to bring the suppressed stories of her people onto the global stage, but obstacles keep piling up. Leila?s younger brother Chia, influenced by their father?s past torture, imprisonment, and his deep-seated desire for justice, begins to engage with social and political affairs. But his activism grows increasingly risky and one...
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"When the matriarch of Sarah's family arranged her marriage to Ali, it was with the intention of uniting two compatible families. However, as the 2009 election becomes contentious, political differences emerge and Sarah's conservative family tries to call off the wedding. Sarah and Ali, however, have fallen in love and, against the wishes of their parents, insist on going through with the marriage. Sarah's cousin, Sadegh, is a staunch supporter of...
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"Three sisters-Kohar, Lucine, and Azad-have long struggled in the grip of their mother, Takouhi, an indomitable woman who is driven by her narcissism and crippled with a lifelong depression that intensifies over time. Takouhi has survived one abusive marriage that she managed to escape with her two daughters and has settled into a more peaceful marriage with a man who she considers her savior, Gabriel. He is the tether to her kite. The oldest daughter,...
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When his American stepmother, who inherited his father's estate, is found dead, the Duke of Strickland, whom everyone knows detested the dowager duchess, fights for his castle and his reputation when Raya Darwish, the dowager duchess's heir, arrives to claim what is hers.
12) The tryout
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As one of the only Asian Americans in her school, Christina confronts both well-meaning ignorance and cruel racism, but in middle school fitting in is important, which is why she and her best friend Megan are both excited and nervous to try out for the popular cheerleading squad.
14) I Hid My Voice
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This is the story, based on fact, of a boy who couldn't speak until the age of seven. Now twenty, he describes the events of his life. Four-year-old Shahaab has not started talking. The family doctor believes there is no cause for concern; nevertheless, Shahaab is ridiculed by others who call him "dumb." Young Shahaab doesn't understand what the word means and thinks it is a compliment, until one day his cousin plays a trick on him to prove to everyone...
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Yes, it's true – Rahab was a prostitute – until the day God redeemed her. But gratefully, once we have been redeemed, God doesn't see any of us through the lens of our sin; rather, He sees us through the lens of His Son.
It was by faith, this woman of courage and strength did not die with all the others in her city. And it was by faith, she became a part of the ancestral line that led to the advent of Jesus.
This is the story of the heroine...
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A close-knit family is transformed forever when its matriarch tragically dies, leaving behind a husband, Timur the blacksmith, and their three young daughters. The Blacksmith's Daughter follows the life of the eldest daughter, Gül, who is growing up in rural Turkey in the 1940s and '50s.
When Timur remarries, the girls' new stepmother has none of their mother's warmth, so Gül feels compelled to take on the role of mother to her younger siblings....
17) Bird Tattoo, The
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Helen is a young Yazidi woman, living with her family in a mountain village in Sinjar, northern Iraq. One day she finds a local bird caught in a trap and frees it, just as the trapper, Elias, returns. At first angry, he soon sees the error of his ways and vows never to keep a bird captive again. Helen and Elias fall deeply in love, marry and start a family in Sinjar. The village has seemed to stand apart from time, protected by the mountains and too...
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The gift of magic may be a curse.
After her desert-transforming wish, Emel follows Saalim to Madinat Almulihi to reclaim all she has lost. But the seaside city is not what she expected. When she is tasked with assisting the palace healer, she is faced daily with the reminder that Saalim-focused only on seeking the revenge of those who killed his family-does not remember her at all.
Cursing the magic that destroyed her love and brought her to an...
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As a daughter of the Salt King, Emel ought to be among the most powerful women in the desert. Instead, she and her sisters have less freedom than even her father's slaves... for the Salt King uses his own daughters to seduce visiting noblemen into becoming powerful allies by marriage.
Escape from her father's court seems impossible, and Emel dreams of a life where she can choose her fate. When members of a secret rebellion attack, Emel stumbles upon...
20) Dawn
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"In Dawn, translated into English for the first time, legendary Turkish feminist Sevgi Soysal brings together dark humor, witty observations, and trenchant criticism of social injustice, militarism, and gender inequality. As night falls in Adana, köftes and cups of cloudy raki are passed to the dinner guests in the home of Ali - a former laborer who gives tight bear hugs, speaks with a southeastern lilt, and radiates the spirit of a child. Among...