Middle Eastern Archives - Page 2 of 3

I Remember Beirut by Zeina Abirached, translated by Edward Gauvin

29 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Lebanese, Memoir, Middle Eastern, Nonfiction, Translation, Young Adult Readers

As in my post for Beirut’s preceding, award-winning companion title, A Game for Swallows, I find I need to start at book's end. "I remember Georges Perec!" the final image announces. Initially seeming to be unrelated to the rest of the book, the unexpected homage to the experimental...

The Tyrant’s Daughter by J.C. Carleson

14 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Laila, 15, is newly arrived from an unnamed Middle East country. She's living in a modest apartment in the suburbs of Washington, DC, with her mother and younger brother. She's at a new school with new friends, and she's doing her best to adjust to her...

The Wall by William Sutcliffe

18 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, British, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

In an unnamed conflict zone – not unlike the challenging, changing borders of Israel and Palestine – 13-year-old Joshua lives in a new settlement community, Amarias, surrounded by a guarded, barbed-wired wall. Too soon after his father's violent death, his mother desperately married Joshua's now-stepfather who considers...

Anatomy of a Disappearance by Hisham Matar

23 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Arab, Audio, British, Egyptian, European, Fiction, Middle Eastern

Hisham Matar's second novel (following his much-lauded, substantially-awarded debut, In the Country of Men) reads like a fast-moving dream, events jarringly, jaggedly forced together, and yet somehow managing to maintain a clear, thoughtful narrative. Narrator Steve West's methodically-paced, calmly-controlled voice imbues Matar's haunting story with dignity...

Jerusalem: A Family Portrait by Boaz Yakin and Nick Bertozzi, based on a story by Boaz Yakin and Moni Yakin, with art director Chris Sinderson

05 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Israeli, Jewish, Memoir, Middle Eastern, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Some years back, during a discussion about what was then the latest tragic news coming out of the Middle East, a friend's mother softly remarked about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, "The absolute worst arguments happen among families." She (the widow of conservative rabbi) was referring specifically...

House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid

14 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Lebanese, Lebanese American, Memoir, Middle Eastern, Nonfiction

The late Anthony Shadid is back in the headlines today with happy news: the double-Pulitzer winner's resonating memoir is one of the autobiography finalists for the National Book Circle Critics awards for the publishing year of 2012. House of Stone recounts Shadid's restoration of his great-grandfather's home...

The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau

03 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Need the verdict first? READ THIS. Stephen Dau's The Book of Jonas is one of those rare, shattering, lingering, breathtaking-at-unexpected-moments debut novels that arrive so perfectly formed you're left both haunted (wondering what you could possibly read next to dispel the terror) and grateful (utterly so, that...

A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson

25 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Chinese, Fiction, Middle Eastern

If you feel a vague sense of déjà vu reading this novel, that may be because, like me, you're strongly reminded of another dual-timed story featuring a bold Englishwoman trekking through faraway lands whose expectations-be-damned!-uncommon-life-back-then is pieced together through left-behind words and pictures by a descendant living...

Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees by Deborah Ellis

24 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Iraqi, Middle Eastern, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Bestselling Canadian anti-war activist Deborah Ellis’s four nonfiction titles (thus far) for younger readers should be bundled together and sent to every policymaker throughout the world. Two of those four, Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely through a Never-Ending War and Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak, give voice to children living...

A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return by Zeina Abirached, translated by Edward Gauvin

04 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Lebanese, Memoir, Middle Eastern, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Once again, I start from book's end, with the "About the Author" page which introduces war-child Zeina Abirached, whose first 10 years of life were spent surviving Beirut's civil war (1975-1990). As an adult, she happened upon a 1984 documentary that included "[a] woman whose...

Habibi by Craig Thompson

28 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Eastern, Nonethnic-specific

Since Craig Thompson's Habibi hit shelves last week (official release date was last Tuesday, September 20), I guess the secret of its magnificence is out ...

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui, translated by Linda Coverdale

21 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Memoir, Middle Eastern, Nonfiction, Translation, Young Adult Readers

"In Khardji [Yemen], the village where I was born, women are not taught how to make choices," Nujood Ali explains. Her mother married her father at age 16 without protest, and said nothing when her husband brought home another wife four years later. "It was...

Joha Makes a Wish: A Middle Eastern Tale adapted by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Omar Rayyan

23 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Nonethnic-specific

Sometimes the simplest things are beyond understanding … exactly because of their simplicity. While resting against a crumbling old wall, Joha happens upon a wishing stick … but everything he wishes for has exactly the opposite results. He gets himself in trouble again and again, eventually...

Time to Pray by Maha Addasi, Arabic translation by Nuha Albitar, illustrated by Ned Gannon

16 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Arab American, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Middle Eastern

After reading (and being bothered, aggravated, and ultimately haunted by the unlikely-to-ever-be-forgotten Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali), I seem to be in search of sweeter literary anecdotes about the Muslim experience. As she did in her debut, The White Nights of Ramadan, Kuwaiti-born author Maha Addasi lovingly...

The Sandwich Swap by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah with Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Tricia Tusa

15 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Jordanian, Middle Eastern

When our daughter entered kindergarten oh those many years ago (she's a teenager already!), she almost immediately started to get hassled about her lunches ...

The Shepherd’s Granddaughter by Anne Laurel Carter

14 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Fiction, Jewish, Middle Eastern, Middle Grade Readers, Palestinian, Young Adult Readers

Last week, this article landed in my inbox: "Jewish Group Boycotts Canadian Kids' Book." The comments are also well worth reading. Then a friend sent me another related article which announced, "Controversial Mideast book stays in Toronto schools." The running quote box on the left side...

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

05 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, African, Cambodian, Chinese American, Indian, Middle Eastern, Nonfiction, Southeast Asian

Half the Sky is a remarkable, life-changing book. It should be required reading for all adults (and more mature young adults), but especially for us overprivileged, lucky-solely-by-chance-of-birth citizens of the West. If there is ONE book you read this new year, let it be this...

Santa Claus in Baghdad and Other Stories about Teens in the Arab World by Elsa Marston

28 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Arab, Fiction, Iranian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Middle Eastern, Middle Grade Readers, Palestinian, Short Stories, Young Adult Readers

Eight stories feature eight teens from eight different countries coming of age during a time of uncertainty and tumult in their native Middle East countries. In the title story, young Amal of Baghdad, Iraq, must find the very best gift for her departing literature teacher even...

Samir and Yonatan by Daniella Carmi, translated by Yael Lotan

19 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Israeli, Middle Eastern, Middle Grade Readers, Palestinian, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Samir, a young Palestinian boy, must go to the "Jews' hospital" for a serious operation to save his injured knee. Having just lost his younger brother to Palestinian/Israeli crossfire, Samir is understandably anxious about entering what he sees as enemy territory. Waiting for the American doctor,...

Goha the Wise Fool retold by Denys Johnson-Davies, art by Hag Hamdy and Hany [in AsianWeek]

08 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Repost

Goha the Wise Fool A collection of short folktales about an entertaining little man who is both wise and foolish, beautifully illustrated with traditional hand-sewn tapestries. Review: "New and Notable Books," AsianWeek, September...

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