The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arabia by Mary Beardwood, 2008. This detailed encyclopedia entry focuses on the geography, cultures, and, especially, the flora and fauna of the Arabian Peninsula. With many photographs, charts, maps, figures, asides, this exhaustive and beautifully illustrated text will answer every question you never knew that you had about Arabia on subjects from pearling to fossils, migratory birds to the many uses of the date palm. The sheer breadth of information will eliminate the narrow geographic and social stereotypes so many students have about the Middle East.

Atlas of the Middle East by National Geographic, 2008.  This is an excellent resource in teaching geography and history.

Al-Kindi: The Father of Arab Philosophy by Tony Abboud, 2006. This book is part of a 6-volume series “Great Muslim Philosophers and Scientists of the Middle Ages.”

Suleyman and the Ottoman Empire by John Addison, 2005. This is brief overview of the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent along with a series of short, primary source documents. Appropriate for age 11 and above.

Al-Khwarizmi: The Inventor of Algebra by Corona Brezina, 2005. This book is part of a 6-volume series “Great Muslim Philosophers and Scientists of the Middle Ages.”

Avicenna (Ibn Sinna): Muslim Physician and Philosopher of the 11th Century by Aishe Khan, 2005. This book is part of a 6-volume series “Great Muslim Philosophers and Scientists of the Middle Ages.”

Oil in the Middle East by John King, 2005. This book contains beautiful photos and well-written narrative about modern diplomatic and political developments in the Middle East.

The Apprentice’s Masterpiece: A Story of Medieval Spain by Melanie Little, 2009. A young adult novel set in 14th-century Spain tells the story of a family with a secret at a time when the Inquisition brings intolerance and torture. Written in elegant free verse, this is a dramatic story set in a troubling time. Appropriate for grades 7 & up.

Extraordinary Women from the Muslim World by Natalie Maydell and Sep Riahi, 2005. Also available as e-book. This book, introduces readers to 13 Muslim women in history who have lived extraordinary lives and influenced their communities in a positive way, often overcoming extreme hardship and inaccurate stereotypes that have been placed on the role of women in Islam.

Historical Atlas of Islam by Malise Ruthven and Azim Nanji, 2004. This is a beautifully illustrated, informative atlas.

Albucasis (Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahrawi): Renowned Muslim Surgeon of the 10th Century by Fred Ramen, 2014. This book is part of a 6-volume series “Great Muslim Philosophers and Scientists of the Middle Ages.”

Al-Biruni: Master Astronomer and Muslim Scholar of the 11th Century by Bill Scheppler, 2014.This book is part of a 6-volume series “Great Muslim Philosophers and Scientists of the Middle Ages.”

*The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela by Uri Shulevitz, 2005. This book is a true account of the twelfth-century journeys of a Jewish traveler throughout the then-known world, including Constantinople, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Persia, and Egypt. Appropriate for grades 3-8.

Mesopotamia by Jane Shuter, 2005. This is a beautifully illustrated, well organized short book about Mesopotamia from the “Excavating the Past” series.

Averroes (Ibn Rushd): Muslim Scholar, Philosopher, and Physician of the 12th Century by Liz Sonneborn, 2005. This book is part of a 6-volume series “Great Muslim Philosophers and Scientists of the Middle Ages.”

Growing Up Muslim: Understanding the Beliefs and Practices of Islam by Sumbul Ali-Karamali, 2013. Author offers her personal account, discussing the many and varied questions she fielded from curious friends and schoolmates while growing up in Southern California—from diet, to dress, to prayer and holidays and everything in between. She also provides an academically reliable introduction to Islam, addressing its inception, development and current demographics; readers will gain a better understanding of the everyday aspects of Muslim American life. Grade 6+. 

Ayat Jamilah: Beautiful Signs by Sarah Conover, Freda Crane, and Valerie Wahl, 2010. A treasury of Islamic wisdom for children and parents, the book contains pictures, folk tales, Quran readings, and poems from the Muslim world. Appropriate for ages 9 and above.

Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah, 2008. Amal Abdel-Hakim is, a seventeen year-old Australian-Palestinian-Muslim trying to come to grips with her various identities. It’s hard enough being cool as a teenager when being one issue behind the latest Cosmo is enough to disqualify you from the in-group. Try wearing a veil and talking intimately about personal issues and you know you’re in for a tough time at school in Australia. Appropriate for grade 7 & above.

Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah, 2010. Jamie just wants to fit in. She doesn’t want to be seen as a stereotypical Muslim girl, so she does everything possible to hide that part of herself. Even if it means pushing her friends away because she’s afraid to let them know her dad forbids her from hanging out with boys or that she secretly loves to play the darabuka. Appropriate for grade 7 & up.

Saints & Misfits by S. K. Ali (Salaam Reads, 2017). “Alternating between humorous and poignant, Saints & Misfits presents Muslim teens and the Muslim community in an honest and fresh way. Moving along at a fast clip, this contemporary YA novel has an authenticity that both adolescent girls and boys will appreciate. We learn above all that Muslim teens think about the same things that all teens do: getting along with their parents, having crushes, going to parties and how to navigate becoming an adult.” – Middle East Outreach Council

A Game for Swallows: to Die, to Live, to Return by Zeina Abirached, 2012. This graphic novel chronicles the experiences of Zeina and her younger brother during the Lebanese Civil War. Appropriate for grade 6 & up, younger depending on maturity.

The Girl Who Fell to Earth by Sophia Al-Maria, 2012. With poignancy and humor, Al-Maria shares the struggles of being raised by an American mother and Bedouin father while shuttling between homes in the Pacific Northwest and the Middle East. Part family saga and part personal quest, The Girl Who Fell to Earth traces Al-Maria’s journey to make a place for herself in two different worlds.

Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos, 2007. In a moving first-person, present-tense narrative, Nadira, 14, relates how her family left Bangladesh, came to the U. S. on a tourist visa, and stayed long after the visa expired. Their illegal status is discovered, however, following 9/11, when immigration regulations are tightened. When the family hurriedly seeks asylum in Canada, they are turned back, and Nadira’s father, Abba, is detained because his passport is no longer valid. The teen voice is wonderfully immediate, revealing Nadira’s mixed-up feelings as well as the diversity in her family and in the Muslim community. Readers will feel the heartbreak, prejudice, kindness, and fear. Grade 7-10.

Arab Folktales by Inea Bushnaq, 1988. Out of alleys of Cairo and Bedouin tents, from the Moroccan laborers and Syrian peasants, this collection of 130 tales comes from the Arab world from North Africa to the Holy Land.

Skunk  Girl by Sheba Karim. Sixteen-year-old Nina Khan feels like an outsider, and there are two things that particularly set her apart from others in her small town: her perfect older sister, Sonia, and the fact that she has inherited the “Pakistani hairy gene.” Nina is a Muslim Pakistani-American, and her parents have very firm views on social behavior: she is not allowed to date or attend parties. Nina stages a mild rebellion, which ends with deepened appreciation for her family’s cultural views. Karim’s first novel provides a rare exploration of Muslim culture and is a welcome addition to teen collections. Grade 7+.

Santa Claus in Baghdad and Other Stories about Teens in the Arab World by Elsa Marston, 2008. This is a wonderful collection of short stories. The title story, “Santa Claus in Baghdad,” can be compared with “The Gift of the Magi.” Appropriate for grade 6 & up.

Amina: Through My Eyes by J.L. Powers, 2013. The book follows the eponymous Amina as her family struggles through war in Mogadishu, Somalia. “This book is rich with realistic, complex details about Islam, agency, urban life, and friendship. Amina’s story is at once culturally specific, unique and universal, so that readers from all walks of like will find moments of connection. Politically relevant, this timely story offers many opportunities for classroom discussion.” —Booklist

Beneath My Mother’s Feat by Amjed Qamar, 2008. Growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Karachi, Pakistan, Nazia has always been a dutiful daughter. After eviction from their home, Nazia and her mother take positions as live-in servants in a wealthy Karachi suburb, and Nazia begins a life of labor, leaving school behind. With rich detail, Qamar’s heartrending novel explores the cultural and economic pressures facing a young girl in contemporary Pakistan. Qamar shows the surprising freedom and courage that can come with losing everything, and she creates in Nazia a courageous, fascinating character whose eye-opening life choices will inspire readers. Grades 7-10.

I Love I Hate I Miss My Sister by Amelie Sarn, 2016.  In France, 18-year-old Sohane—the “intelligent one,” and her 16-year-old sister, Djelila—the “beautiful one,” are as close and as opposite as can be. Since their family is Muslim, Sohane tries to dress modestly, follow the rules, respect her faith, and obey their parents while Djelila questions authority. In smooth translation from French to English, and in seamless chapters transitioning between present and past, this short, fast-paced, tragic story contrasting two clearly drawn Muslim sisters explores contemporary cultural and religious issues  Grade 7+.

My Name is Aram by William Saroyan, originally published 1940. William Saroyan’s most celebrated work of short fiction- a boy’s view of the American Dream. Aram Garoghlanian was a Californian, born in Fresno on the other side of the Southern Pacific tracks. But he was also part of a large, sprawling family of immigrant Armenians–a whole tribe of eccentric uncles, brawling cousins, and gentle women. Through these unforgettable, often hilarious characters Aram comes to understand life, courage, and the power of dreams.

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson, 2012. In an unnamed Middle Eastern security state, a young Arab-Indian hacker shields his clients — dissidents, outlaws, Islamists, and other watched groups — from surveillance and tries to stay out of trouble.

Kids of Kabul by Deborah Ellis, 2012. The author returned to Afghanistan in 2011 to find out how young people’s lives have changed since the Fall of the Taliban. Twenty-seven teens and preteens were interviewed and describe growing up in Afghanistan’s endless war, explain their current situations, and share their hopes for the future. Appropriate for grade 6 and above.

The Fear of Beauty by Susan Froetschel, 2013. An Afghan mother learns to read from an aid worker soldier in order to learn the truth behind her son’s death. Multiple award recipient.

Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan, 2010.. Set in 2001, this compelling story is based on real incidents. Jameela’s matter-of-fact, first-person narrative will awaken young readers to life and conditions in Afghanistan. The story is packed with Pushto words that may slow some readers, but a helpful glossary is included. Appropriate for grades 4-9.

A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story by Qais Akbar Omar, 2013. This memoir describes growing up in the impossibly difficult conditions of Afghanistan in the 1980s and 90s.

Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples, 2008. Najmah, a young girl’s, mother and newborn brother die in an air raid and her brother and father are conscripted by the Taliban. Alone, she meets with an American who teaches children under a persimmon tree and both work to leave the country. Appropriate for grades 7-12.

Cleopatra Rules!: The Amazing Life of the Original Teen Queen by Vicky Alvear Schechter, 2013. Written in a breezy, informal style, this book has everything you have ever wanted to know about Cleopatra and the Egyptian/Roman world she inhabited. Appropriate for grades 6-9

Aunt Safiyya & the Monastery by Bahaa’ Taher, 1996. This short novel tells the dramatic story of a young Muslim who, when his life is threatened, finds sanctuary in a community of Coptic monks. It is a tale of honor and of the terrible demands of blood vengeance; it probes the question of how a people or nation can become divided against itself. A free copy can be found here.

The Iranian Revolution by Brendan January, 2008. This book is part of the Pivotal Moments That Changed the World series, focusing on the Iranian revolution of 1979. Instead of succumbing to the “clash of civilizations” argument, it delves into the deeper causes of the Iranian revolution, and brings the story forward to describe how the forces that triggered the revolution continue to play out in the troubled relationship between the United States and Iran today. This book is a welcome entry to the corpus of research literature for grade 6 & up.

Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees by Deborah Ellis, 2010. This book provides an opportunity for students to read interviews with Iraqi refugee children and see how the war has affected their lives. Appropriate for grade 6 & up.

Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers, 2009.  Follows one Harlem United State Army recruit and his encounters with the Iraq people (civilian and not) during the Iraq War. Appropriate for grade 7 & up.

Iraq by Dale Lightfoot, 2006.One of the Modern World Issues series. The book gives an overview of Iraq’s geography, history, government, and economy. Colorful pictures and maps make it student-friendly.

*Alia’s Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq by Mark Alan Stamaty, 2010. A graphic novel telling the true story of a woman’s struggle to save the books in the Basra library during the 2003 war in Iraq. It’s a simple story, but the graphic novel style would appeal to some upper elementary and middle school readers.

Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali, 2017.  “A touching exposition of a girl’s evolution from terrified victim to someone who knows she’s worthy of support and is brave enough to get it… Set in a multicultural Muslim family, this book is long overdue, a delight for readers who will recognize the culture and essential for those unfamiliar with Muslim experiences. This quiet read builds to a satisfying conclusion.” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review. Young adult.

Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine by Ibtisam Barakat, 2016. In this follow-up to Tasting the Sky, a young Ibtisam finds inspiration through writing letters to pen pals and from an adult who encourages her to keep at it, but the most surprising turn of all for Ibtisam happens when her mother decides that she would like to seek out an education, too. This memoir is a touching and enlightening look at the not often depicted daily life in a politically tumultuous area. Appropriate for Grade 7 +.

Tasting the Sky by Itbisam Barakat, 2007. This is a beautifully written book about her childhood as a Palestinian refugee. Young people can relate to her vivid tale of youth, family relationships, and overcoming adversity. Appropriate for grade 7 & above.

Code Name: Butterfly by Ahlam Bsharat, 2016. This well-written and thoughtful book examines the complex inner life of a Palestinian girl as she interacts with her family and friends within the context of military occupation and economic exploitation. Young adult.

Samir and Yonatan by Daniella Carmi, 2002. A Palestinian and an Israeli boy meet in a hospital. Appropriate for grade 7 & up.

The Bat-Chen Diaries by Bat-Chen Shahak, 2014. In 1996, on her 15th birthday, Bat-Chen Shahak was killed by a suicide bomber in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center. But the gifted teenager left behind a rich legacy of diaries, letters, poems and drawings. Following her death, her parents gathered her writings and created The Bat-Chen Diaries; this is the first English translation of her work. Appropriate for age 10 & up.

Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye, 1999. A girl, Liyana, moves with her family to Palestine, a place that Liyana has never seen. Her friendship with Omer, a Jewish boy, helps her adjustment to a strange land, but the friendship is forbidden in a land torn by conflict. Appropriate for grade 7 & up.

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea by Valerie Zenatti, 2008. When teen Tal Levine witnesses a bombing in Tel Aviv, she becomes despondent. Like so many people, she wants Israel and Palestine to live in peace. One day she puts her hopes into a letter, places the letter into a bottle, and gives it to her brother, asking him to toss it into the Gaza Sea. A young man in Gaza finds the bottle, and responds. He is critical, angry, annoyed at first, but eventually they both participate in a friendship that ultimately opens their eyes. Appropriate for grade 7 & up.

A Hand Full of Stars by Rafik Schami, 2012. A Syrian teenager, long before the current troubles, learns that: “If you tell the truth in Syria, you must pay with your life.” Appropriate for grade 7 & up.

Damascus Nights by Rafik Schami, 2011. One of the city’s greatest storytellers is struck dumb, and his friends must tell him stories from myth, history and contemporary Syria to reawaken his tongue.

Roadmap to Success: Inspiring Journeys of Ten Iconic Coptic Leaders by Dr. Shahira Abdel Shahid, 2016. “The book provides positive role models of inspiring leaders from non-traditional Middle Eastern backgrounds. Since each of the ten leaders are interviewed separately, the book can be easily excerpted (students assigned one chapter to read) for a variety of classes: Middle East Studies, Leadership, Religious Studies (due to the book’s Christian content), or even English classes.” – Middle East Outreach Council

Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East edited by Donna Lee Bowen, Evelyn A. Early, Becky Schulthies, 2014. Readers will gain a grassroots appreciation of Middle East life, culture, and society that recognizes the impact of wars and uprisings as well as changes to Islamic practice due to advances in technology.

Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History, ed. by Edward E. Curtis, IV, 2010. This illustrated two-volume encyclopedia includes some 300 articles covering historical and contemporary issues, events, people, court cases, themes, and activism relating to Muslim-American history. The reference also includes 50 original documents, a master chronology and an extensive bibliography.

A History of the Muslim World to 1405: The Making of a Civilization by Vernon O. Egger, 2003. This book is written in a clear style, presents sophisticated themes, avoids clichés common in introductory works, and is accessible to the high school audience.

Who Speaks for Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really think by John Esposito & Dalia Mogahed, 2008. Post 9/11, this books offers insights to Muslims around the world and their beliefs to break down stereotypes.

Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews in World War II by Norman H. Gershman, 2008. Real life accounts of Muslims who intervened during World War II in order to save the lives of Jews. This book contains photos of each individual interviewed and their word for word account of what happened.

The Middle East and the Islamic World Reader (Revised and Expanded Edition) edited by Marvin E. Gettleman and Stuart Schaar, 2012. This collection of documents spans Islam and Middle Eastern history. (Over half the book is on 20th century conflicts and issues.)

A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order by Kambiz Ghanea Bassiri, 2010. This is a unique and intelligent portrayal of a diverse religious community and its relationship with America. It will serve as a strong antidote to the current politicized dichotomy between Islam and the West, which has come to dominate the study of Muslims in America and further afield.

Between Arab and White: Race and Ethnicity in the Early Syrian American Diaspora by Sarah M. A. Gualtieri, 2009. Between Arab and White focuses on the first wave of Arab immigration and settlement in the United States in the years before World War II, but also continues the story up to the present.

Women in the Middle East: Tradition and Change by Ramsay M. Harik and Elsa Marston, 2003. Similar to the book on teen life in the Middle East (see below), this book, published 12 years ago, precedes several important events, notably the Arab Spring. Nonetheless, this comprehensive look at Middle Eastern women and their struggle to balance tradition and modernity is a major contribution to resources on this topic of wide interest. Of particular note, the revised edition includes women in Afghanistan and women’s health.

The Crusades: An Illustrated History by James Harpur. Subtitled “The two hundred years war, the clash between the cross and the crescent in the Middle East 1096-1291,” this book gives an overview of the Crusades.

Strangers in the West: The Syrian Colony of New York City, 1880-1900 by Linda K. Jacobs, 2016. Strangers in the West is the story of the Arab immigrants who settled in New York City, beginning in 1880. Through exhaustive archival and demographic research, Dr. Jacobs has captured the identities of virtually every member of this 19th century community. 

Encounters with the Middle East: True Stories of People and Culture That Help You Understand the Region by Nesreen Khashan and Jim Bowman, 2007. The book contains different (and readable) stories about Westerners’ encounters with the Middle East. PA.

Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo by Murat Kurnaz, 2009. Details the wrongful imprisonment of one man in Guantanamo Bay Detainment Center and how he managed to prove his innocence.

Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History by Ira M. Lapidus, 2012. This book focuses on the organization of primary communities, religious groups, and states, and shows how they were transformed by their interactions with other societies. Its breadth, clarity, and thoughtful exposition will ensure its place in the classroom and beyond.

Crusades: The Illustrated History by Thomas F. Madden, 2005. An important, richly illustrated account of the struggle between Christianity and Islam in the Near East, and an essential guide to understanding many modern-day conflicts, from the Balkans and Lebanon to Palestine and the War on Terror. Author has published numerous studies on the crusades.

Teen Life in the Middle East edited by Ali Akbar Mahdi, 2003.  Though the region has faced numerous challenges in the more than 10 years since these profiles of daily life in the Middle East for teens was published, this compilation nonetheless offers insights into the interests, family and social lives, religious practices, and culture of teens in twelve profiled countries.

Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore, 2011. How did this small, remote town become the Holy City, the “center of the world” and now the key to peace in the Middle East? In a gripping narrative, the author reveals this ever-changing city in its many incarnations, bringing every epoch and character blazingly to life.

Becoming American: The Early Arab Immigrant Experience by Alixa Naff, 1993. This book describes the stories and experiences of immigrants from the Arab world to the United States.

The Ottomans: Empire of Faith by Dr. David Nicolle, 2008.  A comprehensive history of the Ottoman Empire with maps and illustrations.

The African and Middle Eastern World, 600-1500 by Randall L. Pouwels, 2005. This is a history of medieval Africa and the Middle East with beautiful photographs and maps.

Historical Atlas of Islam by Malise Ruthven and Azim Nanji, 2004. This beautifully illustrated history of Islam provides a broad overview of the economic, social, political, and cultural history of the Islamic world from the birth of the Prophet Muhammad to the present. Brief essays address pivotal moments and movements and eras, and color maps and photographs effectively complement the text throughout.

Mecca: The Sacred City by Ziauddin Sardar, 2014.  In this insighful book, the author unravels the meaning and significance of Mecca. Tracing its history, from its origins as a “barren valley” in the desert to its evolution as a trading town and sudden emergence as the religious center of a world empire, Sardar examines the religious struggles and rebellions in Mecca that have significantly shaped Muslim culture.

The Middle East Today: Political, Geographical and Cultural Perspectives by Dona J. Stewart, 2012. S supplemented by a companion website containing sample chapters, a selection of maps formatted for use in presentations, and annotated links to online resources and websites, The Middle East Today is an essential resource for all students of Middle East Studies, Middle East politics and geography.

Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World by Lilia Zaouali, 2007. This book gives a culinary history of the Islamic world and provides recipes.

Who Are the Christians in the Middle East? by Betty Jane Bailey  and J. Martin Bailey, 2010. The Middle East continues to dominate international news and global politics. From the perspective of religion, however, many Americans think of that area only in terms of Muslims and Israeli Jews and are unaware of the extensive Christian communities that still exist there. Who Are the Christians in the Middle East? chronicles the history and current state of Christianity in this highly volatile region of the world.

The Essential Koran translated and edited by Thomas Cleary, 1994. This is an introductory selection of readings from the Muslim holy book. This collection of readings from the Quran is designed to help non-Muslim Westerners approach this holy book through a selection of chapters and verses encapsulating some of its central ideas.

What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam by John Esposito, 2011. This brief and readable book remains the first place to look for up-to-date information on the faith, customs, and political beliefs of the more than one billion people who identify as Muslims.

Islam in the Modern World by Jefferey Kenney and Ebrahim Moosa, 2013. This comprehensive introduction provides broad overviews of the developments, events, people and movements that have defined Islam in the three majority-Muslim regions; traces the connections between traditional Islamic institutions and concerns, and their modern manifestations and transformations; investigates new themes and trends that are shaping the modern Muslim experience such as gender, fundamentalism, the media and secularization; and offers case studies of Muslims and Islam in dynamic interaction with different societies.

Islam: Faith, Culture, and History by Paul Lunde, 2008. This accessible, layperson’s guide is an introductory overview of Islamic religion, history, and culture.

Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs, and Rituals by George Robinson, 2016. This wonderfully detailed and newly updated reference book makes it easy to look up anything that one needs to know about Judaism. It may be a bit challenging for beginning-level students but very useful for advanced ones – or for teachers.

Approaching the Qur’an: The Early Revelations by Michael Sells, 2007. This copy of the Muslim holy book comes with commentaries as well as an audio CD of Qur’an readings.

Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry edited by Hayan Charara, 2008. This collection brings together 39 Arab-American poets offering up 160 poems. These poems tackle a wide range of themes, including culture, politics, loss, art, and language itself.

Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems by Mahmoud Darwish, 2003. Considering Palestine’s “national poet”, Darwish won numerous awards for his literary output. This collection spans Darwish’s entire career, nearly four decades, revealing an impressive range of expression and form.

The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology edited by Nathalie Handal, 2015. Uniting Arab women poets from all over the Arab world and across the diaspora, Nathalie Handal has put together an outstanding collection that introduces poets who write in Arabic, French, English, and Swedish, among them some of the twentieth century’s most accomplished poets and today’s most exciting new voices.

Emails from Scheherazade by Mohja Kahf, 2003. This is a book of poetry describing the Arab American immigrant experience.

Ismailia Eclipse by Khaled Mattawa, 1995. This is a collection of poems by a Libyan-American writer.

The Flag of Childhood: Poems from the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye, 2002. In this stirring anthology of sixty poems from the Middle East, honored anthologist Naomi Shihab Nye welcomes us to this lush, vivid world and beckons us to explore. Eloquent pieces from Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, and elsewhere open windows into the hearts and souls of people we usually meet only on the nightly news.

Nineteen Varieties of Gazelle by Naomi Shihab Nye, 2005. Naomi Shihab Nye has been writing about being Arab-American, about Jerusalem, about the West Bank, about family all her life. These new and collected poems of the Middle East — sixty in all — appear together here for the first time.

The Space between Our Footsteps by Naomi Shihab Nye, 1999. In an unparalleled collection, honored anthologist Naomi Shihab Nye brings together the work of over 120 poets and artists from 19 countries in the Middle East. In turn compelling, lyrical, tragic and humorous, this rich anthology opens the door to the Middle East and beckons readers to explore our common ground. Full-color illustrations.

Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad edited and translated by Sholeh Wolpé, 2010. Farrokhzad was the most significant female Iranian poet of the twentieth century; She wrote with a sensuality and burgeoning political consciousness that pressed against the boundaries of what could be expressed by a woman in 1950s and 1960s Iran.

Baddawi by Leila Abdelrazaq, 2015. Abdelrazaq’s father, Ahmad, grew up as a refugee in Lebanon after his family fled Palestine in the 1940s, dividing his time between Baddawi, a refugee camp, and war-torn Beirut. Here, the author depicts Ahmad’s childhood and teenage experiences, from the celebration of Ramadan to nighttime raids of the camp. The story builds on this mix of mundane, day-to-day moments and singular, devastating events to create a picture of the life and struggles of a Palestinian refugee. Abdelrazaq’s black-and-white drawings are evocative, and Ahmad’s tale serves as a solid foundation for an exploration of a part of the Palestinian experience in the second half of the 20th century. A glossary provides some context, defining Arab words and explaining key political players and places. VERDICT: A student-friendly introduction to the conflicts in the Middle East. – School Library Journal.  Appropriate for grade 7 & up.

A Game for Swallows: to Die, to Live, to Return by Zeina Abirached, 2012. This graphic novel chronicles the experiences of Zeina and her younger brother during the Lebanese Civil War. Appropriate for grade 6 & up, younger depending on maturity.

I Remember Beirut by Zeina Abirached, 2014. In this sequel, Abirached explores her childhood in Beirut as fighting between Christians and Muslims divided the city streets. Follow her past cars riddled with bullet holes, into taxi cabs that travel where buses refuse to go, and on outings to collect shrapnel from the sidewalk. With striking black-and-white artwork, Abirached recalls the details of ordinary life inside a war zone.

A Child in Palestine by Naji al-Ali, 2009. These satirical cartoons criticize the Israeli occupation, corruption of the regimes in the region, and the suffering of the Palestinian people using the well-known Handala character.

The 99 by Naif Al-Mutawa, 2007. This comic book features a team of superheroes based on Islamic culture and religion. Now in their 10th year, Al-Mutawa’s comic books have their own fleet of superheroes: an all-Islamic cast gifted with special powers embodying the 99 attributes of Allah – such as generosity, wisdom and strength – that are named in the Koran. Issues can be purchased through Al-Mutawa’s website at http://www.al-mutawa.com/. Read more about the unique position the creator holds as a result of his work: loathed by some, and lauded by others in this article.

Zahra’s Paradise by Amir and Khalil, 2011. Zahra’s Paradise is a graphic novel set in Iran after the elections of 2009 in what is known as the Green Movement. It brings together fiction and real people and events and has been compared with Persepolis.

The Jerusalem Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delisle, 2012. This graphic novel explores the complexities of a city that represents so much to so many. It eloquently examines the impact of conflict on the lives of people on both sides of the wall while drolly recounting the quotidian: checkpoints, traffic jams, and holidays.

Waltz with Bashir: A Lebanon War Story by Ari Folman and David Polonski, 2009. This graphic novel is based on the award-winning movie, a reconstruction of a soldier’s experience during Israel’s war in Lebanon.

How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden, 2011. This graphic novel is a true account of the Jewish author’s “birthright” tour of Israel and her attempt to understand the complex history of the nation. It does a good job of unpacking assumptions and generalizations. PA.

The Photographer by Didier Lefevre and Emmanuel Guibert, 2009. Part photojournalism and part graphic memoir, The Photographer tells the story of a 1986 Doctors Without Borders mission which traveled into northern Afghanistan by horse and donkey train at the height of the Soviet occupation.

Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan, 2008. In this graphic novel, a young Israeli man searches for his father, who may or may not have been killed in a suicide bombing attack.

Baghdad Journal: An Artist in Occupied Iraq by Steve Mumford, 2005. In this graphic novel, the artist documents the everyday scenes of Iraq in watercolors and drawings painting a human side of the war. Mumford draws and paints daily activities of American platoons and Baghdad residents.

Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco, 2010. This is a journalistic graphic novel of an Israeli massacre in the Palestinian town of Rafah during the Suez War and life in Gaza today.

Palestine by Joe Sacco, 2001. In this graphic novel, Joe Sacco writes about his 1991-92 experiences, emphasizing the history of Palestine, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1991.

The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Safr, 2007. Rich with the colors, textures, and flavors of Algeria’s Jewish community, The Rabbi’s Cat brings a lost world vibrantly to life–a time and place where Jews and Arabs coexisted–and peoples it with endearing and thoroughly human characters, and one truly unforgettable cat. Sfar’s artwork looks as mangy and unkempt as the cat, with contorted figures and scribbly lines everywhere, but there’s a poetic magic to it that perfectly captures this cat’s-eye view of human culture and faith. The stories tell much about Jewish life in the 1930s, both in the initial setting of Algeria and in Paris. A sequel is also available. Appropriate for grade 9 and above.

Persepolis I & Persepolis II by Marjane Satrapi, 2004 and 2005 respectively. A combined volume was released in 2007. The two-volume memoir in graphic novel style describes the author’s childhood during the Iranian Revolution, her schooling abroad during the Iran-Iraq War, and eventual return to her homeland. Note: She describes a sexual encounter in book 2. **See the acclaimed animated film version (in the Multi-Media section below). PA.

The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984: A Graphic Memoir by Riad Sattouf, 2015. In striking, virtuoso graphic style that captures both the immediacy of childhood and the fervor of political idealism, Riad Sattouf recounts his nomadic childhood growing up in rural France, Gaddafi’s Libya, and Assad’s Syria–but always under the roof of his father, a Syrian Pan-Arabist who drags his family along in his pursuit of grandiose dreams for the Arab nation. Graphic novel, personal account. 

Rise: The Story of the Egyptian Revolution as Written Shortly Before It Began by Tarek Shahin, 2011. Known as Al-Khan, this series began its original run in The Daily News Egypt in May 2008. In its first three series, it tracks the events following the return of Omar Shukri to his hometown of Cairo, Egypt, having left his banking job in London. Those years would prove to be the lead up to what became the momentous Tahrir Square protests in 2011.

Habibi by Craig Thompson, 2011. Set in a fictional Islamic fairytale landscape, this graphic novel tells a story that extends across ancient Middle Eastern geographies, religions, mythologies, and migrations—containing both Arab and Christian ¬histories—to tell about Dodola, a runaway child bride, and Zam, the orphan she rescues in the slave market where they first meet. Note: contains mature content (nudity).

Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon, 2008. This graphic novel is based on the true story of a group of lions that escaped from the Baghdad zoo during the American bombing in 2003. It asks questions about liberty: whether it can be given or must be earned, whether it is better to die free or live in captivity.

Cairo by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker, 2008.  This graphic novel is a modern fable set on the streets of the Egypt. A stolen hookah and a genie change the lives of five strangers forever.

Ms. Marvel Comic Book Series by G. Willow Wilson (author) and multiple illustrators, series introduced 2014. Marvel Comics presents the new Ms. Marvel, the groundbreaking heroine that has become an international sensation! Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City – until she’s suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. Embark on adventures with this Muslim American teenager superheroine.

The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber, 2006. This coming of age story explores the cultural tensions faced by a young Jordanian-American girl and her family. Food plays a central role, which could provide an opportunity for global culinary exploration in the classroom and beyond.

The Girl Who Fell to Earth by Sophia Al-Maria, 2012. With poignancy and humor, Al-Maria shares the struggles of being raised by an American mother and Bedouin father while shuttling between homes in the Pacific Northwest and the Middle East. Part family saga and part personal quest, The Girl Who Fell to Earth traces Al-Maria’s journey to make a place for herself in two different worlds. Memoir.

Salt Houses by Hala Alyan, 2017. “Salt Houses is about the displacement of a Palestinian family and the places they move as successive generations are born and flourish. But this is not a novel of refugees, of tent cities or starvation. Instead, it is a novel that examines the middle class and the very real pain that the loss of home has even on the privileged.” – Los Angeles Review of Books.

The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric, 1977. This internationally-acclaimed Bosnian novel describes (as a series of short stories set in different time periods) a small town in Bosnia during the years of Ottoman rule. A teacher can easily use one or two stories, rather than the whole novel.

Granada by Radwa Ashour, 2003. A novel of life in the mixed culture that existed in Southern Spain before the expulsion of Arabs and Jews, following the life of Abu Jaafar, the bookbinder, and his family as they witness Christopher Columbus’ triumphant parade through the streets.

Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian, 2002. Although the book is a work of fiction, it is based on the true experiences of the author’s great-uncle, who was an Armenian teenager during the genocide of 1915.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, 2008. This novel is inspired by a true story of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a medieval Jewish holy book, which had been rescued during the several Bosnian wars. As a book expert validates the authenticity of the manuscript, the reader is taken on a journey through the book’s past from medieval Morocco and Spain through Italy and Bosnia.

The Anchor Book of Modern Arabic Fiction edited by Denys Johnson-Davies, 2006. This dazzling anthology features the work of seventy-nine outstanding writers from all over the Arab-speaking world, from Morocco in the west to Iraq in the east, Syria in the north to Sudan in the south.

Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up in America by Firoozeh Dumas, 2004. Dumas also documents her first year as a new mother, the experience of taking fifty-one family members on a birthday cruise to Alaska, and a road trip to Iowa with an American once held hostage in Iran. Personal account.

Modern Arabic Fiction: An Anthology by Salma Khadra Jayyusi, 2008. Beginning with the late-nineteenth-century cultural resurgence and continuing through the present day, short stories and novels have given voice to the personal and historical experiences of modern Arabs. This anthology offers a rich and diverse selection of works from more than one hundred and forty prominent Arab writers of fiction.

The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf by Mohja Kahf, 2006. This novel tells about a Syrian Muslim girl growing up and entering adulthood in Indiana, “exploring the fault lines between ‘Muslim’ and ‘American.’

Memed, My Hawk by Yashar Kemal, 2005. A Robin Hood-esque story about a boy who escapes the virtual slavery of his mountain village landlord to join a roving brigade and work to free his people.

On the Other Side of Mount Ararat: A Story of a Vanished city by Mariam Manoukian and Elize Manoukian, 2005. A girl grows up in the last days of the Ottoman Empire and experiences the Armenian genocide.

The Girl in Green by Derek B. Miller, 2017. “A polished and powerful commentary on the effects of war on two men—an ambitious British journalist and a clueless American soldier who meet briefly in Iraq at the end of the Gulf War in 1991…This is an excellent depiction of the complicated Iraq-Syria situation, especially the desperate plight of refugees and the West’s failure to provide peace or relief. Miller caps his stellar, electrifying story with a knockout ending.” – Publishers Weekly.

Cities of Salt by Abdelrahman Munif, 1999. Follows the American colonization of a gulf oil well city and their struggles navigating in a new world with Western influences while maintaining their own culture. Banned in Saudi Arabia.

The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Peterson, 2010. Author of several children’s classics, Katherine Paterson received the 2013 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for this work story about a Kosovar Albanian Muslim refugee family that must adjust to life in the U.S. They find their courage tested by hunger, illness, the long, arduous journey, and danger on every side. The events of 9/11 bring more challenges for this Muslim family–but this country is their home now and there can be no turning back.

Every Man in this Village Is a Liar: An Education in War by Megan K. Stack, 2011. A reporter describes her experiences covering Middle Eastern wars. Personal account/memoir.

When the Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi, 2015. When her husband is killed by Taliban members, Fereiba is forced to flee Kabul with her three children. The family manages to get as far as Greece, but their fate takes a frightening turn when teenager, Saleem, becomes separated from the others. Fereiba pushes on with her daughter and baby, while Saleem falls into the shadowy underground network of undocumented Afghans on the streets of Europe’s capitals. Mother and son struggle to reunite. This vivid tale of the migrant experience is especially relevant during the current refugee crisis.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, 2004. “This powerful first novel…tells the story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. Both transform the life of Amir, Khaled Hosseini’s privileged young narrator, who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy, just before his country’s revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. But political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in The Kite Runner, are only a part of this story. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence—forces that continue to threaten them even today.” – NYT Book Review.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, 2008. This popular fiction details the lives of two wives of Rasheed who are the epitome of abused women, but who become friends and overcome the ultimate brutality with the ultimate sacrifice.

The Photographer by Didier Lefevre and Emmanuel Guibert, 2009. Part photojournalism and part graphic memoir, The Photographer tells the story of a 1986 Doctors Without Borders mission which traveled into northern Afghanistan by horse and donkey train at the height of the Soviet occupation.

A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story by Qais Akbar Omar, 2013. This memoir describes growing up in the impossibly difficult conditions of Afghanistan in the 1980s and 90s. PA.

The First Man by Albert Camus, 1995. This final work by the Nobel Prize-winning author, unpublished until 1995, is an autobiographical novel set in Algeria, where Camus spent his early years. Published thirty-five years after its discovery amid the wreckage of the car accident that killed Camus.

Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade by Assia Djebar, 1993. In this stunning novel, Assia Djebar intertwines the history of her native Algeria with episodes from the life of a young girl in a story stretching from the French conquest in 1830 to the War of Liberation of the 1950s.

The Compassionate Warrior: Abd El-Kader of Algeria by Elsa Marston, 2013. This is an account of a 19th century Algerian freedom fighter, Abd el-Kader, who won respect in the West for his humanitarian values and compassionate policies during the struggle against French colonialism.

The Algerine Captive by Royall Tyler, 2012. Originally published anonymously in 1797, it tells the tale of fictitious Boston native Dr. Updike Underhill, his capture by Barbary pirates, and their efforts to convert him to their Muslim faith. Written in an entertaining and satiric style that predated Mark Twain, Tyler’s novel reveals his patriotic pride and anti-slavery beliefs. His comments on the religious and cultural divide between Western and Islamic beliefs of the day still resonate today.

I Want to Get Married: One Wannabe Bride’s Misadventures with Handsome Houdinis, Technicolor Grooms, Morality Police, and Other Mr. Not Quite Rights by Ghada Abdel Aal, 2010. This work is based on a young Egyptian woman’s humorous blog about her adventures in “dating.”

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany, 2006. The controversial bestselling novel in the Arab world reveals the political corruption, sexual repression, religious extremism, and modern hopes of Egypt today found all in one building.

War in the Land of Egypt by Yusuf Al-Qa’id, 1997. In Egypt on the eve of the 1973 October war, a young man has been drafted into the army. His father, the village elder, persuades a poor night-watchman to send his own son as a stand-in but the impersonation plan goes horribly wrong, with tragicomic results.

Rebels by Accident by Patricia Dunn, 2014. “A powerful coming-of-age story set on the brink of Egypt’s January 25 Revolution in 2011… Dunn allows Mariam’s voice its space-making it tentative, passionate, doubting, and utterly believable-while creating a cast of Cairo youth, rebels, and expatriates that upend Mariam’s preconceptions and will do the same for many readers.” – Publishers Weekly. Age 12 and up.

The Illustrator’s Notebook by Mohieddine Ellabbad, 2006. The book is an award-winning autobiography (with photographs and drawings) of an Egyptian illustrator focusing on his art and how art is connected with his personal experience and the broader context of Egypt’s history. Personal account.

Homecoming: Sixty Years of Egyptian Short Stories by Denys Johnson-Davies, 2014. This prolific translator brings together this remarkable overview of his translations of several generations of Egypt’s leading short story writers.

Others

• The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street (2001) –  Naguib Mahfouz’s magnificent epic trilogy of colonial Egypt tells the engrossing story of a Muslim family in Cairo during Britain’s occupation of Egypt in the early decades of the twentieth century.

• Children of the Alley (1996) – The tumultuous “alley” of this rich and intricate novel (first published in Arabic in 1959) tells the story of a delightful Egyptian family, but also reveals a second, hidden, and daring narrative: the spiritual history of humankind. From the supreme feudal lord who disowns one son for diabolical pride and puts another to the test, to the savior of a succeeding generation who frees his people from bondage, we find the men and women of a modern Cairo neighborhood unwittingly reenacting the lives of their holy ancestors: the “children of the alley.”

• The Day the Leader was Killed (2000) – Set during al-Sadat’s presidency, this story follows the ironic events of a family, narrated by both the pious and mischievous patriarch and his hapless grandson.

Women of Egypt by Jehan Sadat, 1989. The wife of President Sadat’s autobiography about how she defined cultural expectations for women by marrying the man of her choice and taking up a political life in advocacy. Memoir.

Picturing Iran: Art, Society and Revolution ed. by Shiva Balaghi and Lynn Gumpert, 2003. A book showing modern Iranian visual culture of the 1960s and 1970s (just before and during the revolution). Some of the posters shown in the book would be useful in helping students to understand the reasons behind the revolution.

The Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings by Abolqasem Ferdowsi; translated by Dick Davis, 2007. Among the greatest works of world literature, this prodigious narrative, composed by the poet Ferdowsi in the late tenth century, tells the story of pre-Islamic Iran, beginning in the mythic time of creation and continuing forward to the Arab invasion in the seventh century.

The Essential Rumi, New Expanded Edition by Jalal al-Din Rumi (author), Coleman Barks (translator), John Moyne (translator), 2004. This collection by the great 13th century Persian poet includes a new introduction by Coleman Barks and more than 80 never-before-published poems. Through his lyrical translations, Coleman Barks has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to a remarkably wide range of readers, making the ecstatic, spiritual poetry of Sufi Mystic Rumi more popular than ever.

Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran by Roya Hakakian, 2005. Roya Hakakian recalls her childhood and adolescence in pre-revolutionary Iran with candor and verve. The result is a beautifully written coming-of-age story about one deeply intelligent and perceptive girl’s attempt to find an authentic voice of her own at a time of cultural closing and repression.

Iran: Opposing Viewpoints ed. by David Haugen, 2010.  The collection of articles offers many different perspectives on modern Iran. The book addresses such issues as whether Iran is a threat to global security, how the U.S. should respond to Iran, and the status of human rights. (The purpose is to show students different sides of the same issue.)

Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji, 2008. Told from the perspective of a 17-year-old boy during the summer of 1973, Rooftops of Tehran is the coming-of-age story of Pasha who pines over the girl next door who is already promised to another.

Escape from Saddam: The Incredible True Story of One Man’s Journey to Freedom by Lewis Alsamari, 2009.The story of Alsamari fleeing from Iraq to avoid being conscripted to Saddam’s army at the age of 16 and the struggles he faced as a result.

Saddam Hussein: A Biography by Shiva Balaghi, 2005. This biography “traces Saddam Hussein’s life from his childhood in Tikrit until his capture by US troops in April of 2003. The author attempts to show how lessons learned from Saddam’s difficult childhood would later be applied to his understanding of Ba’thism, pan-Arabism, and method of rule.” – Middle East Journal

Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village by Elizabeth Fernea, 1995. A delightful, well-written, and vastly informative ethnographic study, this is an account of Fernea’s two-year stay in a tiny rural village in Iraq, where she assumed the dress and sheltered life of a harem woman.

Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea by Dunya Mikhail, 2009. An impressionistic memoir by the award-winning Iraqi-American writer, Dunya Mikhail, Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea covers her earliest sensations of childhood to a more complicated grasp of death, beginning with the death of her father to the Gulf War and the subsequent Iraqi War.

Contemporary Iraqi Fiction by Shakir Mustaf, 2008. The first collection of contemporary Iraqi writers’ short stories in the West.

Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq by Riverbend, 2005. In August 2003, the world gained access to a remarkable new voice: a blog written by a 25-year-old Iraqi woman living in Baghdad, whose identity remained concealed for her own protection. Calling herself Riverbend, she offered searing eyewitness accounts of the everyday realities on the ground, punctuated by astute analysis on the politics behind these events.

The Clandestine Diary of an Ordinary Iraqi by Salam Pax, 2003. Salam Pax has attracted a huge worldwide readership for the Internet diary he kept during the buildup, prosecution, and aftermath of the war in Iraq. Bringing his incisive and sharply funny Web postings together in print for the first time, Salam Pax provides one of the most gripping accounts of the Iraq conflict and will be the subject of global media attention.

Our Last Best Chance: A Story of War and Peace by King Abdullah II, 2012. Jordan’s beloved leader makes an urgent plea to push for a solution to the Arab-Israeli crisis. He writes with frankness about his own upbringing and warns of the brewing resentment in the region. A call to arms, Our Last Best Chance helps explain the volatile underpinnings of the Arab Spring. Personal account.

West of the Jordan by Laila Halaby, 2003. Through the narratives of four cousins at the brink of maturity, Laila Halaby immerses her readers in the lives, friendships, and loves of girls struggling with national, ethnic, and sexual identities.

Other

Diana Abu-Jaber is an Arab-American novelist & memoirist who often writes specifically of the Jordanian immigrant and 2nd generation immigrant experience in America. Her works include The Language of Baklava, Arabian Jazz, Birds of Paradise and Crescent. 

Beirut Nightmares by Ghada Samman, 2010. Beirut Nightmares is set at the height of the Lebanese Civil War. The narrator, trapped in her apartment for two weeks by street battles and sniper fire, writes a series of vignettes peopled by an extraordinary cast of characters, some drawn from shocking waking world and others living only in the sleeping minds, of those suffering in the conflict.

Others

A Game for Swallows: to Die, to Live, to Return by Zeina Abirached, 2012. This graphic novel chronicles the experiences of Zeina and her younger brother during the Lebanese Civil War. Appropriate for grade 6 & up, younger depending on maturity. Graphic novel.

Waltz with Bashir: A Lebanon War Story by Ari Folman and David Polonski, 2009. This graphic novel is based on the award-winning movie, a reconstruction of a soldier’s experience during Israel’s war in Lebanon. Graphic novel.

The Bleeding of the Stone by Ibrahim Al-Koni, 2002. This is a story of a bedouin living in the desert and his struggle to evade two foreign hunters seeking a rare wild sheep in order to preserve his culture.

In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar, 2006. Short-listed for the 2006 Booker Prize, Hisham Matar’s beautifully crafted retrospective recounts Muammar el-Qaddafi’s brutal Libyan regime through a child’s eyes.

Other

The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984: A Graphic Memoir by Riad Sattouf, 2015. In striking, virtuoso graphic style that captures both the immediacy of childhood and the fervor of political idealism, Riad Sattouf recounts his nomadic childhood growing up in rural France, Gaddafi’s Libya, and Assad’s Syria–but always under the roof of his father, a Syrian Pan-Arabist who drags his family along in his pursuit of grandiose dreams for the Arab nation. Graphic novel, personal account. 

Year of the Elephant: A Moroccan woman’s Journey Toward Independence by Leila Abouzeid, 1989. Revised 2009. A collection of short stories that serve as an eloquent representation of life in the wake of Morocco’s successful struggle for independence from French occupation.

For Bread Alone by Mohamed Choukri with Paul Bowles, 1973. Driven by famine from their home in the Rif mountains, Mohamed’s family walks to Tangiers in search of a better life. But his father is unable to find work and grows violent. Mohamed learns how to charm and steal. During a short spell in a filthy Moroccan jail, a fellow inmate kindles Mohamed’s life-altering love of poetry.

Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Leila Lalami, 2005. This exciting debut evokes the grit and enduring grace that is modern Morocco and offers an authentic look at the Muslim immigrant experience today, chronicling four Moroccans illegally crossing the Strait of Gibraltar in an inflatable boat headed for Spain.

Others

The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami, 2014. A Pulitzer Prize Finalist, New York Times Notable Book, and Wall Street Journal Top 10 Book of the Year, among other honors. In this stunning work of historical fiction, Laila Lalami brings us the imagined memoirs of the first black explorer of America—a Moroccan slave whose testimony was left out of the official record.

Return to Childhood: The Memoir of a Modern Moroccan Woman by Leila Abouzeid, 1993. This is the memoir of a woman growing up during the time of Morocco’s struggle for independence.

Palestine: Peace not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter, 2007. Jimmy Carter’s assessment of what needs to be done to bring peace permanently to the Middle East.

Men in the Sun by Ghassan Kanafani, 1999. This is a collection of Palestinian short stories.

The Bus Driver who Wanted to be God by Etgar Keret, 2004. Brief, intense, painfully funny, and shockingly honest, Keret’s stories are snapshots that illuminate with intelligence and wit the hidden truths of life. As with the best comic authors, hilarity and anguish are the twin pillars of his work. Keret covers a remarkable emotional and narrative terrain-from a father’s first lesson to his boy to a standoff between soldiers caught in the Middle East conflict to a slice of life where nothing much happens.

The Attack by Yasmina Khadra, 2007. Dr. Amin Jaafari is an Arab-Israeli surgeon at a hospital in Tel Aviv. As an admired and respected member of his community, he has carved a space for himself and his wife, Sihem, at the crossroads of two troubled societies. Jaafari’s world is abruptly shattered when Sihem is killed in a suicide bombing. As evidence mounts that Sihem could have been responsible for the catastrophic bombing, Jaafari begins a tortured search for answers.

Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh, 2003. A chronicle of living in the Israel-occupied West Bank.

The Panther in the Basement by Amos Oz, 1997.  Proffy, a twelve-year-old living in Palestine in 1947. When Proffy befriends a member of the occupying British forces who shares his love of language and the Bible, he is accused of treason by his friends and learns the true nature of loyalty and betrayal.

We Just Want to Live Here by Amal Rifa’l, Odelia Ainbinder, 2003. A Palestinian and an Israeli teenager, who met in an exchange program overseas, write to each other about their lives and the tragic conflict in their country. PA.

The Lemon Tree: an Arab, a Jew, and the Heart if the Middle East by Sandy Tolan, 2007. In 1967, Bashir Al-Khayri, a Palestinian twenty-five-year-old, journeyed to Israel, with the goal of seeing the beloved old stone house, with the lemon tree behind it, that he and his family had fled nineteen years earlier. To his surprise, when he found the house he was greeted by Dalia Ashkenazi Landau, a nineteen-year-old Israeli college student, whose family fled Europe for Israel following the Holocaust. On the stoop of their shared home, Dalia and Bashir began a rare friendship, forged in the aftermath of war and tested over the next thirty-five years in ways that neither could imagine on that summer day in 1967.

Behind the Wall: Life, Love, and Struggle in Palestine by Rich Wiles and Ali Abunimah, 2010. This book is a collection of interviews and photos with Palestinians in the West Bank’s refugee camps.

When I Was a Soldier by Valerie Zenatti, 2007. This memoir describes a teenage Israeli girl’s required two years of service in the military. PA.

Others

A Child in Palestine by Naji al-Ali, 2009. These satirical cartoons criticize the Israeli occupation, corruption of the regimes in the region, and the suffering of the Palestinian people. Graphic novel.

Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan, 2008. In this graphic novel, a young Israeli man searches for his father, who may or may not have been killed in a suicide bombing attack. Graphic novel.

Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco, 2010. Details one incident in 1957 in Rafah in the Gaza Strip in which 111 Palestinians were killed, but what is for most of us just a footnote in history. Graphic novel.

How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden, 2011. This graphic novel is a true account of the Jewish author’s “birthright” tour of Israel and her attempt to understand the complex history of the nation. Graphic novel.

Palestine by Joe Sacco, 2001. In this graphic novel, Joe Sacco writes about his 1991-92 experiences, emphasizing the history of Palestine, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1991. Graphic novel.

A Brief History of Saudi Arabia by James Wynbrandt, 2010. In recent years, Saudi Arabic has experienced changes that have both altered the internal structure of the country and affected its foreign relations. This book manages to steer an even course through a subject that is often treated with skepticism or defensiveness.

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea, 2008. Boldly addresses the hidden lives of Saudi Arabian young women in contemporary society.

Others

On Saudi Arabia by Karen Elliott House, 2013: Through anecdotes, observation, analysis, and extensive interviews, Karen Elliott House navigates the maze in which Saudi citizens find themselves trapped and reveals the sometimes contradictory nature of the nation that is simultaneously a final bulwark against revolution in the Middle East and a wellspring of Islamic terrorists.

The Waiting Room by Sarah Glidden, 2011. Written in a documentary style, Sarah Glidden’s 20- page cartoon account tells of Syria’s displaced Iraqis, the largest urban refugee population ever. Online at Cartoon Movement: http://www.cartoonmovement.com/comic/10

Others

The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf by Mohja Kahf, 2006. This novel tells about a Syrian Muslim girl growing up and entering adulthood in Indiana, “exploring the fault lines between ‘Muslim’ and ‘American.’

Snow by Orhan Pamuk, 2005. An exiled poet named Ka returns to Turkey and travels to the forlorn city of Kars. His ostensible purpose is to report on a wave of suicides among religious girls forbidden to wear their head-scarves. But Ka is also drawn by his memories of the radiant Ipek, now recently divorced. Amid blanketing snowfall and universal suspicion, Ka finds himself pursued by figures ranging from Ipek’s ex-husband to a charismatic terrorist.

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak, 2008. Populated with vibrant characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is the story of two families, one Turkish and one Armenian American, and their struggle to forge their unique identities against the backdrop of Turkey’s violent history.

The Hostage by Zayd Muti Dammaj, 1994. The cultural anachronism that was the Imamate of Yemen is artfully captured in The Hostage. Set in the 1940s, the novel depicts a closed society through the eyes of a boy taken hostage and held in the governor’s palace to ensure his clan’s loyalty. Employed as a servant, he observes the whole range of a social order hardly touched by modernity and falls in love with the governor’s sister. As his friend, another servant, is slowly dying of tuberculosis, he himself is infected with the corruption of the palace and is on the verge of being consumed. At times reminiscent of Abdelrahman Munif’s “Cities of Salt” trilogy, Dammaj’s work vibrantly portrays a real Yemen that is still unknown to many Westerners, even as it is once again torn by revolution. – Paul E. Hutchison

From the Land of Sheba: Yemeni Folktales by Carolyn Han, 2005.  The fabled past is ever present in Yemen, and stories are told about events that happened long, long ago-as if they happened only yesterday. From the Land of Sheba brings a rich assortment of folktales from this ancient land.

Gaza Unsilenced by Refaat Alareer (Editor), Laila El-Haddad (Editor), 2015. During and after Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza, voices within and outside Gaza bore powerful witness to the Israeli attacks.

I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti , Edward W. Said (Foreward), Ahdaf Soueif (Translator), 2013. (PA)

O Jerusalem by Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre, 1988.

The Israel-Palestine Conflict, One Hundred Years of War, (3rd ed) by James L. Gelvin, 2014.

The Arab-Israeli Wars by Chaim Herzog, 2005.

The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict, (7th ed.) by Walter Laqueur and Barry Rubin, 2008. A collection of primary source documents dating from 1882 into the 21st century.

The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History by David W. Lesch, 2007.

The Israel/Palestine Question: A Reader edited by Ilan Pappe, 2007

The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948 by Eugene L. Rogan and Avi Shlaim. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

The Transformation of Palestinian Politics: From Revolution to State-Building by Barry Rubin, 2001.

A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time, (3rd ed.) by Howard Sachar, 2013.

Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History with Documents, (8th ed.) by Charles D. Smith, Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012.

Living Palestine: Family Survival, Resistance, and Mobility under Occupation edited by Lisa Taraki, 2006.

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A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, (2nd ed.) by Mark Tessler, 2009. 

Arab Revolutions and World Transformations edited by Anna M. Agathangelou and Nevzat Soguk, 2013.

Diaries of an Unfinished Revolution: Voices from Tunis to Damascus edited by Layla Al-Zubaidi, Matthew Cassel, et al, 2013.

The New Arab Revolt: What Happened, What It Means, and What Comes Next published by Foreign Affairs with Introduction by Gideon Rose, 2011.

The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know by James L. Gelvin, 2012.

The New Middle East: Protest and Revolution in the Arab World by Fawaz Gerges, 2013.

The Arab Spring: Critical Analyses edited by Khair El-Din Haseeb, 2014.

The Arab Spring: Change and Resistance in the Middle East by Lesch, David W. and Mark L. Haas, 2012.

The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East by Marc Lynch, 2013.

The Arab Uprisings Explained: New Contentious Politics in the Middle East by Marc Lynch, 2014.

Arab Spring and Arab Women: Challenges and Opportunities edited by Muhamad S. Olimat, 2013.

Aftermath of the Arab Uprisings: The Rebirth of the Middle East by Jerry M. Rosenberg, 2012.

Cosmopolitanism and the Arab Spring: Foundations for the Decline of Terrorism by Lori J. Underwood, 2012.

Raging Against the Machine: Political Opposition under Authoritarianism in Egypt by Holger Albrecht, 2013.

We Are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War edited by Nadje Al-Ali and Deborah Al-Najjar, 2012.

Thicker than Oil: America’s Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia by Rachel Bronson, 2008.

The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East by Juan Cole, 2014.

Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East by Edmund Burke, III and David N. Yaghoubian, 2006.

The International Relations of the Persian Gulf by F. Gregory Gause, 2009.

The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama by Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor, 2013. This stunning account of the political and military struggle between American, Iraqi, and Iranian forces brings together vivid reporting of diplomatic intrigue and gripping accounts of the blow-by-blow fighting that lasted nearly a decade.

The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development by Wadie Jwaideh, 2006.

The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa (6th ed.) edited by David E. Long, Bernard Reich, and Mark Gasiorowski (Editor), 2010.

Syria from Reform to Revolt, Volume 1: Political Economy and International Relations edited by Raymond Hinnebusch and Tina Zintl, 2014.

The Middle East edited by Ellen Lust, 2013.

The New Arab Wars: Uprisings and Anarchy in the Middle East by Marc Lynch, 2016.

Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to Mubarak by Tarek Osman, 2011.

Syria from Reform to Revolt,Volume 2: Culture, Society, and Religion edited by Christa Salamandra and Leif Steinberg, 2015.

Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People by Jack G. Shaheen, 2001.

The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq by Emma Sky, 2015. With sharp detail and tremendous empathy, Sky provides unique insights into the US military as well as the complexities, diversity, and evolution of Iraqi society. The Unraveling is an intimate insider’s portrait of how and why the Iraq adventure failed and contains a unique analysis of the course of the war.

The Middle East Today: Political, geographical and cultural perspectives by Dona J. Stewart. New York: Routledge, 2009.

Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East by Robin Wright, 2009.

The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright, 2007.

Arab Voices: What They Are Saying to Us and Why It Matters by James Zogby. New York: Palgrave MacMillian Press, 2010.

African Muslims in Antebellum America: Transatlantic Stories and Spiritual Struggles by Allen Austin, 1997.

Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History by Thomas Barfield, 2010.

The Archaeology of Ancient Israel by Amnon Ben-Tor, 1992.

A Hundred Horizons: The Indian Ocean in the Age of Global Empire by Sugata Bose, 2006.

The Modern Middle East and North Africa: A History in Documents by Julia Clancy-Smith, Charles Smith.

Historical Dictionary of Arab and Islamic Organizations (Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements) by Frank A. Clements, 2001.

A History of the Modern Middle East, 5th ed. by William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton, 2012.

The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century by Ross E. Dunn, 2004.

The Middle East and Central Asia: An Anthropological Approach by Dale F. Eickelman, 1998.

Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War by Robert Fisk, 1990. This remarkable book combines war reporting and political analysis in an unprecedented way: it is an epic account of the Lebanon conflict by an author who has personally witnessed the carnage of Beirut for over two decades.

The Arab World: Forty Years of Change by Robert Fernea and Elizabeth Warnock Fernea, 1997.

Moorish Spain by Richard Fletcher, 2006.

The Modern Middle East: A History by Gelvin, James L., 2005.

The Middle East and Islamic World Reader: An Historical Reader for the 21st Century by Gettleman, Marvin E. and Stuart Schaar, 2012.

A Peace to End All Peace, 20th Anniversary Edition: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin and Kaya Oakes, 2009.

Trading Tastes: Commodity and Cultural Exchange to 1750 By Erik Gilbert and Jonathan Reynolds, 2005. A short reference book on medieval international trade in salt, slaves, silk, and spices.

A Concise History of the Middle East (11th ed.), by Goldschmidt, Arthur and Lawrence Davidson, 2015.

The Arabs: A Short History with Documents by Halm, Heinz, 2011.

A History of the Arab Peoples by Hourani, Albert, 1992.

Middle Eastern Humanities: An Introduction to the Cultures of the Middle East by Leila Hudson, 2010.

The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In by Kennedy, Hugh, 2007.

Sources in the History of the Modern Middle East by Akram Fouad Khater, 2004.

The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization by Lyons, Jonathan, 2010.

The Arab Americans: A History by Orfalea, Gregory, 2006.

The Arabs: A History by Eugene Rogan, 2012. In this definitive history of the modern Arab world, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan draws extensively on Arab sources and texts to place the Arab experience in its crucial historical context for the first time. Tracing five centuries of Arab history, Rogan reveals that there was an age when the Arabs set the rules for the rest of the world.

Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient by Edward Said, 1979.

Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane by S. Frederick Starr, 2015.

Aristotle’s Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Middle Ages by Richard E. Ruberstein. New York: Harcourse, 2003.

Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient by Edward Said, 1979.

Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane by S. Frederick Starr, 2015.

Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary, 2010.

Islam: A Short History by Karen Armstrong, 2000.

No god But God: the Origins and Evolution of Islam by Aslan, Reza 2011.

A New Introduction to Islam, (2nd ed.) by Daniel Brown, 2011.

Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction by Brown, Jonathon A. C., 2011.

A History of the Muslim World to 1405 by Vernon O. Egger, 2004.

Islam by Elias, Jamal J., 1998.

How to Read the Qur’an: A New Guide with Select Translations by Carl W. Ernst, 2011.

Islam: The Straight Path (4th ed.) by Esposito, John L., 2011.

Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century by Esposito, John L., 2011.

What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam by Esposito, John L., 2002.

The Qur’an (Oxford World’s Classics) by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, 2008.

A Vanished World: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain by Chris Lowney, 2005.

Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewries: History and Culture in the Modern Era edited by Goldberg, Harvey E., 1996.

The Crusades through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf, 1984.

The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain by Maria Rosa Menocal, 2002.

Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists by Michael Hamilton Morgan, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2007.

Christianity in Iraq by Suha Rassam, 2010.

The Heirs of Muhammed: Islam’s First Century and the Origin of the Sunni-Shia Split by Barnaby Rogerson, Woodstock and New York: Overlook Press, 2006.

Approaching the Qur’an: The Early Revelations by Michael Sells, 1999.

America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History by Andrew J. Bacevich, 2016. “Bacevich is thought-provoking, profane and fearless. . . . [His] call for Americans to rethink their nation’s militarized approach to the Middle East is incisive, urgent and essential.”—The New York Times Book Review

Star Spangled Security: Applying Lessons Learned over Six Decades Safeguarding America by Harold Brown, 2012. “Harold Brown is the most unique of statesmen: a scientist, a Cold War warrior, and a secretary of defense under President Carter whose intimate knowledge of our nuclear deterrent was matched only by his clear-eyed patriotism. Star Spangled Security is a fascinating and rewarding look at the last sixty years of American defense and diplomacy.” – President Bill Clinton

The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America’s Role in the World by Derek Chollet, 2016. In this inside assessment of Barack Obama’s foreign policy legacy, Derek Chollet tackles the prevailing consensus to argue that Obama has profoundly altered the course of American foreign policy for the better and positioned the United States to lead in the future.

America’s Continuing Misadventures in the Middle East (2nd ed.) by Chas W. Freeman, 2016.

Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East by Rashid Khalidi, 2013. “The noted Columbia University historian provides important empirical evidence and sobering analysis that shatters the mythology that the United States has a genuine desire for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.” – Stephen Zunes

Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East by Daniel C. Kurtzer and Scott B. Lasensky, 2008.

The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Middle East Peace by Aaron David Miller, 2008.

Mission Failure: America and the World in the Post-Cold War Era by Michael Mandelbaum, 2016. “Specialists and general readers alike will appreciate his sure historical grasp, evenhanded assignment of fault, careful assessment of shifting domestic political considerations, and understanding of the foreign cultural barriers that so frustrated American intentions. A skilled, persuasive appraisal of a unique moment in our foreign policy history.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred)

The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat by Vali Nasr, 2013. “The Dispensable Nation is an important wake-up call by a thoughtful, astute and deeply knowledgeable scholar and policymaker. Anyone interested in the Middle East, China, or the future of American power should read it immediately and think hard about its message.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter

The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 by Thomas E. Ricks, 2010.

Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama by Dennis Ross, 2015.  In Doomed to Succeed, he takes us through every administration from Truman to Obama, throwing into dramatic relief each president’s attitudes toward Israel and the region, the often tumultuous debates between key advisers, and the events that drove the policies and at times led to a shift in approach.

America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder by Brett Stephens, 2014. ”Given the US’s recently renewed commitments in the Middle East, Stephens’s clear, convincing apologia for American power will make especially timely reading for American foreign policy’s skeptics and opponents.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The Stakes: America and the Middle East by Shibley Telhami, 2002.

Other Sources

The Obama Doctrine by Jeffrey Goldberg was published in the April 2016 issue of The Atlantic. In this exhaustive piece, the U.S. president talks through his hardest decisions about America’s role in the world.

Arab and Arab American Feminisms: Gender, Violence, and Belonging edited by Rabab Abdulhadi, Evelyn Alsultany and Nadine Naber, 2010.

Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate by Leila Ahmed, 1993. “A signal contribution to the question of Islam and gender as well as a solid overview of the history of gender in the region.” – Judith Tucker

The Ideal Refugees Gender, Islam, and the Sahrawi Politics of Survival by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, 2013.

Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi, 1995.

Women in the Middle East and North Africa by Guity Nashat and Judith E. Tucker, 1999.

Women in the Islamic World: From Earliest Times to the Arab Spring by Irene Schneider, translated by Steven Rendell, 2012.

Beyond the Exotic: Women’s Histories in Islamic Societies edited by Amira El-Azhary Sonbol, 2005.

Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today by Haddad, Yvonne, Jane Smith, and Kathleen Moore, 2006.

A History of Modern Iran by Ervand Abrahamian, 2008.

Modern Iran since 1921: The Pahlavis and After by Ali Ansari, 2003.

Picturing Iran: Art, Society and Revolution edited by Shiva Balaghi and Lynn Gumpert, 2003. This book shows modern Iranian visual culture of the 1960s and 1970s (just before and during the revolution). Some of the posters shown in the book would be useful in helping your students to understand the reasons behind the revolution.

Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution, Updated Edition by Nikki R. Keddie, 2006.

All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer, 2008.

Ethnicity, Identity, and the Development of Nationalism in Iran by David N. Yaghoubian, 2014.

The Mobilization of Political Islam in Turkey by Banu Eligür, 2014.

Atatürk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey by Andrew Mango, 2002.

Turkey and the Arab Spring: Leadership in the Middle East by Graham E. Fuller, 2014. 

Shaping Gender Policy in Turkey: Grassroots Women Activists, the European Union, and the Turkish State by Gül Aldikaçti Marshall, 2013.

Turkey Unveiled: A History of Modern Turkey by Hugh Pope and Nicole Pope, 2011.

Islam and Modernity in Turkey by Brian Silverstein, 2011. An ethnographic account of Islam in modern Turkey by UA Anthropology faculty member Brian Silverstein, this book discusses Islam and mass media in Turkey, with attention to the Ottoman and early Republican background of contemporary Turkey.

I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti 2013. Winner of the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal, this fierce and moving work is an unparalleled rendering of the human aspects of the Palestinian predicament. Memoir/personal account. (PAL)

Shoot an Iraqi: Art, Life and Resistance Under the Gun by Wafaa Bilal, 2008. Iraqi artist Bilal immigrated to the U.S. after Desert Storm, and channeled his haunting experiences into his performance pieces, culminating in Domestic Tension. For 31 days and nights, Bilal was the target of a paintball gun controlled by online participants who were invited to “shoot an Iraqi.” – Booklist.

In Tangier by Mohamed Choukri, originally published in 1973. After a childhood of poverty and petty crime, Choukri taught himself to read and write at the age of 20. He befriended the likes of Paul Bowles, Jean Genet, and Tennessee Williams who were drawn to the sights and sounds of 1970s Tangier. His recollection of encounters with the larger-than-life characters of these cult figures are collected in a single volume for the first time. (MOR)

Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love and War by Anna Ciezadlo, 2011. This is a memoir of the author’s travels mostly in Iraq and Beirut around 2003–2009. She is incredibly insightful, and the book is beautifully written and an easy read.

Memoirs of a Woman Doctor by Nawal El Saadawi, 2001. A young Egyptian female medical student overcomes social hypocrisy and social injustice to become a caring and successful physician. (EGY)

Journey from the Land of No by Roya Hakakian, 2004. The author recalls her childhood and adolescence in pre-revolutionary Iran with candor and verve. A glossary of terms and chronology of major Persian and Iranian, and the author’s, events are included. (IRN)

Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie Mallowan, 1974. Agatha Christie, writing under the name of her second husband Max Mallowan, recounts their lives on the archaeological projects that Max directed in Iraq and Syria just before and after World War II (during which, incidentally, Agatha wrote many of her murder mysteries).

My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Family’s Past by Ariel Sabar, 2010. “This book is a must read for specialists on political culture, change and continuity. It reflects a deep historical understanding but, more important, it is a book about political survival through culture, language and other forms of interpersonal communications across several divides.” – Review, Middle East Policy Council

Out of Place: A Memoir by Edward W. Said, 2000. Said writes with great passion and wit about his family and his friends from his birthplace in Jerusalem, schools in Cairo, and summers in the mountains above Beirut, to boarding school and college in the United States, revealing an unimaginable world of rich, colorful characters and exotic eastern landscapes.

Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family by Najla Said, 2014. Daughter of famed theorist and intellectual, Edward Said, Najla was born a Palestinian Lebanese American, but denied her true roots, even to herself—until, ultimately, the psychological toll of her self-hatred began to threaten her health. As she grew older, she eventually came to see herself, her passions, and her identity more clearly. Today she is a voice for second-generation Arab Americans nationwide.

The House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid, 2012. From The New Yorker: An apt testament – a moving contemplation of how the stay with us, and how war scrambles the narrative of family life. (LEB)

Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist, 1879-1924 by Huda Shaarawi (Author), Margot Badran (Editor), 1987. In this rare first-hand account of the private world of a Cairo harem during the years before Egypt declared independence in 1922, Shaarawi recalls her childhood and early adult life in the seclusion of an upper-class Egyptian household, including her marriage at age thirteen. (EGY)

The Valley of the Assassins and Other Persian Tales by Freya Stark, 1936. One of the most unconventional and courageous explorers of her time, Freya Stark’s chronicles of her extraordinary travels in the Near East established her as a twentieth century heroine.

A Winter in Arabia by Freya Stark, 1940. In this book, the travel writer, geographer, historian, and archaeologist recounts her 1937-8 expedition in what is now Yemen. (AP)

Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger, 1959. An amazing account of Thesiger’s treks through the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula before the advent of big oil and all the social and political change that followed thereafter. (AP)

Etel Adnan (LEB)

Lebanese American poet, author, essayist, and feminist.

Hanan Al-Shaykh (LEB)

Writes novels about contemporary social issues.

Mahmoud Darwish (PAL)

Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet.

Nawal El Saadawi (EGY)

Egyptian feminist writer, activist, physician and psychiatrist. She has written many books on the subject of women in Islam.

Fadia Faqir (JOR-UK)

Fadia Faqir, a Jordanian-British novelist, draws on her experiences as a woman in Jordan and abroad to shed light on the marginalized in Arab society.

Ghassan Kanafani (PAL)

Palestinian writer and a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Elias Khoury (LEB)

Lebanese novelist, playwright, critic and a prominent public intellectual.

Naguib Mahfouz (EGY)

Egyptian novelist who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature to explore themes of existentialism.

Gregory Orfalea

Arab-American the author or editor of nine books, including poetry, non-fiction a recent short story collection, The Man Who Guarded the Bomb.

Orhan Pamuk (TUR)

Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Shahrnush Parsipur (IRN)

Turkey’s leading female writer, Shafak has published 17 books, nine of which are novels. Her writing draws on diverse cultures and literary traditions, reflecting an interest in history, philosophy, Sufism, oral culture, and cultural politics.

Tayeb Salih (SUD)

One of the Arab world’s top novelists, Sudanese author Salih excelled at portraying characters torn between East and West.

Elie Shafak (TUR)

Turkey’s leading female writer, Shafak has published 17 books, nine of which are novels. Her writing draws on diverse cultures and literary traditions, reflecting an interest in history, philosophy, Sufism, oral culture, and cultural politics.

Mornings in Jenin: A Novel by Susan Abulhawa, 2010. Mornings in Jenin is a multi-generational story about a Palestinian affected by the creation of he State of Israel and the decades of conflict that have followed. (PAL)

The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine, 2009. Arabic for “storyteller,” The Hakawati presents beautifully nested stories rooted in Arabic and Indo-Persian folktales, as well as biblical stories and Western folk traditions. With The Hakawati, Rabih Alameddine has given us an Arabian Nights for this century.

Gold Dust by Ibrahim Al-Koni, 2008. In translation. A classic story of the brotherhood between man and beast, the thread of companionship that is all the difference between life and death in the desert. It is a story of t he fight to endure in a world of limitless and waterless wastes, and a parable of the struggle to survive in the most dangerous landscape of all: human society. (LIB)

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea and Marilyn Booth, 2008. When Rajaa Alsanea boldly chose to open up the hidden world of Saudi women—their private lives and their conflicts with the traditions of their culture—she caused a sensation across the Arab world. (KSA)

The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon, 2014. Young Jawad, born to a traditional Shi’ite family of corpse washers and shrouders in Baghdad, decides to abandon the family tradition, choosing instead to become a sculptor, to celebrate life rather than tend to death. (IRQ)

Sarmada by Fadi Azzam, 2011. “With Sarmada, Fadi Azzam proves to us there are still undiscovered gems in Arabic literature … beautiful writing, long stifled by dictatorship, has just begun to free itself from the grips of censorship” – Rafik Schami. (SYR)

Stone of Laughter by Hoda Barakat. Lebanese novel, written in 1990 by author Hoda Barakat set during the Lebanese Civil War. The book was translated into English by Sophie Bennett. It is a winner of the Al-Naqid prize and the first book by an Arab author to have a main character who is gay. (LEB)

The Sand Child by Tahar Ben Jelloun, 1987. Hajji Ahmed had only one wish, to have a son. Year after year, his wife gives him nothing but daughters. When the eighth child was born he makes a secret decision and announces that finally he has a son and heir, who is called Mohammed Ahmed. Only the child’s mother and the old midwife knew the truth that the child was a girl. (MOR)

The Corpse Exhibition and Other Stories of Iraq by Hassan Blasim, 2009. A compilation of short stories, this book is the first major literary work about the Iraq War (2003) from an Iraqi perspective. (IRQ)

Loom by Thérèse Soukar Chehade, 2010. “An expansive and beautiful new storyteller, Chehade tightly binds personal experience with the universal desire to belong, effortlessly weaving a dense tapestry of loneliness and regret.” – Publisher’s Weekly starred review. (Arab-Am)

For Bread Alone by Mohamed Choukri. London: Telegram Books, 2006. Driven by famine from their home in the Rif, Mohamed’s family walks to Tangiers in search of a better life. But his father is unable to find work and grows violent. Mohamed learns how to charm and steal. (MOR)

Mother Comes of Age by Driss Chraibi, trans. Hugh Harter. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999. Setting his novel during World War II, Chraïbi opens the door on the protected and well-to- do world of an Arab woman whose role in society is restricted to that of wife and mother. (MOR)

Savushun by Simin Daneshvar, 1991. The first published novel by an Iranian woman, this beautifully written story is set in Shiraz, Iran during World War II. The story is told primarily from the point of view of a woman caught in a web of family and political intrigues, including those involving the presence of the British in SW Iran and tribal conflicts with the local government. (IRN)

The Tongue’s Blood Does Not Run Dry: Algerian Stories by Assia Djebar, 2010. All seven stories were written in 1995 and 1996—a time when, by official accounts, some two hundred thousand Algerians were killed in Islamist assassinations and government army reprisals. (ALG)

Pillars of Salt by Fadia Faqir, 1998. Pillars of Salt is the story of two women confined in a mental hospital in Jordan during and after the British Mandate. (JOR)

The Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings by Abolqasem Ferdowsi. Written between 977-1010 CE, this epic poem was first published in 1974. (Persia/Iran)

The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist by Emile Habiby, 2001. Saeed is the comic hero, the luckless fool, whose tale tells of aggression and resistance, terror and heroism, reason and loyalty that typify the hardships and struggles of Arabs in Israel. (PAL)

Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury, 2005. An ambitious exploration of the Palestinian experience through the eyes of two men living in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut. (LEB)

Yalo by Elias Khoury, 2002. During the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s, a young man is arrested and charged with rape. Repeatedly interrogated and tortured, Yalo is forced – like Scheherazade – to tell a different story each day to stay alive. (LEB)

The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami, 2014. In this stunning work of historical fiction, Laila Lalami brings us the imagined memoirs of the first black explorer of America—a Moroccan slave whose testimony was left out of the official record.

In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar, 2006. Nine-year-old Sleiman’s unremarkable childhood in Libya is torn asunder by the darkness of Libyan politics. (LIB)

Pillar of Salt by Albert Memmi, 1992. An autobiographical novel about coming of age in the Jewish ghetto of Tunis during the 1930s and 1940s, this book portrays the impact of French colonialism on Tunisian society in general and on Tunisian Jews in particular at the time Tunisia was occupied by Axis powers. (TUN)

Endings by Abdelrahman Munif. New York: Interlink Books, 2007. The late Saudi novelist Munif (1933-2004) sets this timeless tale within an Arabic desert village struck by drought and doomed by the thoughtlessness of its inhabitants. (AP)

Touba and the Meaning of Night by Shahrnush Parsipur, 2008. This complex epic captures the changing fortunes of Iranian women in the twentieth century from the era of colonialism to the rule of two shahs to the 1980 Islamic Revolution. (IRN)

Women without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur. Originally published 1989. Internationally acclaimed writer Shahrnush Parsipur follows the interwoven destinies of five women—including a prostitute, a wealthy middle-aged housewife, and a schoolteacher—as they arrive by different paths to live together in a garden in Tehran. (IRN)

Satan’s Stones by Moniru Ravanipur, 1996. The first English translation of the author’s 1991 short story collection, these stories explore many facts of contemporary Iranian life, particularly the ever-shifting relations between women and men. (IRN)

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih. Boulder, Co: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1980. After years of study in Europe, the young narrator of Season of Migration to the North returns to his village along the Nile in the Sudan. It is the 1960s, and he is eager to make a contribution to the new postcolonial life of his country. (SUD)

The Cairo House by Samia Serageldin, 2000. A work that depicts the glamorous Egypt of the pashas and King Farouk, the police state of the colonels who seized power in 1952, the post-Sadat years and the rise of fundamentalism. (EGY)

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak, 2006. Turkish novelist Shafak tackles Turkish national identity and the Armenian “question” in her signature style. (TUR)

A Lake Beyond the Wind by Yahya Yakhlif, 1999. This novel is about the most catastrophic year in Palestinian history, a time marked by violent clashes between Zionist forces and the volunteers of the Arab Liberation Army. (PAL)

The Night Counter by Alia Yunis, 2013. “The Abdullahs are anything but a Norman Rockwell painting, but in their own way, they are a very typical American family. They may have their differences but they also have their stories. And, as Scheherazade points out, in the end, that’s what holds a family (much like a nation) together.” –Christian Science Monitor

Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry edited by Hayan Charara. Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 2008.

I Am the Beggar of the World: Landays from Contemporary Afghanistan by Eliza Griswold (Translator) and Seamus Murphy (Photographer), 2014. With the help of local guides and Pashto translators, Griswold convinces women to share couplets that touch on a wide range of emotions and themes, from love and grief to separation and war. Because the lyrics remain anonymous over generations, Afghan women use them to express freely their desires and frustrations, yet still risk violating Taliban strictures against song and dance.

A Brave New Quest: 100 Modern Turkish Poems by Talat S. Halman, Translator and Editor, and Jayne L. Warner, Associate Editor, 2005.

Born Palestinian, Born Black: & The Gaza Suite by Suheir Hammad, 2010. The true manifest destiny of Suheir Hammad is to raise her searing vigorous voice, a brave flag over the dispossessed to sing stories of indelible origin and linkage to remind struggling humankind, whatever color or cultural root: We will hold on, we will never be gone. What s more, we will shine the light on one another! –Naomi Shihab Nye.

The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology edited by Nathalie Handal. New York: Interlink Books, 2001.

Bread Alone by Kim Jensen, 2009. Poetry on violence and war in Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine.

Songs of Love and War: Afghan Women’s Poetry by Sayd Majrouh (Author), Marjolijn de Jager (Translator), 2010. The authors of oral literature in the Pashtun language create their work at a far remove from any books. Generally deprived of the support of schools and universities, their compositions are inseparable from song.

Talking through the Door: An Anthology of Contemporary Middle Eastern American Writing edited by Susan Atefat-Peckham with foreword by Lisa Suhair Majaj, 2014.

Modern Arabic Fiction: An Anthology by Salma Khadra Jayyusi, 2005. Beginning with the late-nineteenth-century cultural resurgence and continuing through the present day, short stories and novels have given voice to the personal and historical experiences of modern Arabs. This anthology offers a rich and diverse selection of works from more than one hundred and forty prominent Arab writers of fiction.

Modern Arab American Fiction: A Reader’s Guide by Steven Salaita, published 2011.

Classical Arabic Literature selected and translated by Geert Jan Van Gelder, 2013. This anthology presents a rich assortment of classical Arabic poems and literary prose, from pre-Islamic times until the 18th century, with short introductions to guide non-specialist students and informative endnotes and bibliography for advanced scholars.