A novel told in verse, this moving story introduces readers to Jude, a twelve-year-old girl who leaves a father, brother, and friends in Syria to come to America with her expectant mother. Both hope for a better life for the new baby. Jude’s brother fled from their village in Syria to Aleppo to help citizens there. She and her mother miss him and her father terribly, and they have very little contact with either. They have come to Cincinnati to live with Jude’s uncle, aunt and cousin, a girl Jude’s age, who wants little to do with her, at home or at school. Jude experiences racism and divisions at school, all made more apparent when she tries out for a school play and is told by a Muslim schoolmate that they are not looking for students “like her” to be in such a play. Jude navigates all of this uncertainty at home and school with grace, and takes advantage of the many small kindnesses which eventually come her way, and help her feel as if she just might have a chance for acceptance and happiness after all.
Recommended by Leslie Tetreault | Children and Teen Department Manager
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
available as an ebook and eaudiobook through Overdrive
The Night Diary is told through the diary entries of a shy girl named Nisha who lives in India and grows up right before the end of 200 years of British rule. She receives a diary on her 12th birthday and uses it to connect with her mother who died giving birth to her and her twin brother, Amil. She has trouble speaking to people and does not make friends easily. Soon after receiving this diary, her world changes as India gains its independence and is broken up into Muslim-led Pakistan and Hindu-led India. Her family is Hindu and living in what becomes Pakistan. It is not safe for Nisha and her family so they must figure out how to get over the border and to the safety of the “New India”.
Join Nisha as she chronicles her family's struggles while Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs scramble to find a safe place to call home.
A 2019 NEWBERY HONOR BOOK
2020 – 2021 SC Book Award Nominee
*A Walter Dean Myers Honor Winner *An ALA Notable Book *A Malka Penn Award Recipient *A New York Times Editor's Choice Pick *A Junior Library Guild Selection *Named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, Kirkus Reviews, The New York Times, NPR, School Library Journal, and The Washington Post.
Recommended by Meg Cantrell | Children's Room Librarian
A companion novel to Shooting Kabul, this finalist for the Edgar Award follows twelve-year-old tomboy Ariana, living in California after having fled Afghanistan. She finds that she is quite different from her recently emigrated cousin Laila. Laila is a proper Afghan girl who can cook and sew, and who honors her Pukhtun culture. Unfortunately, Laila who has fled the Taliban has come to live in Ariana's already tight townhouse, sharing her room. Ariana’s family owns a grocery store, and the family is troubled by the opening of a competing Afghan store nearby. These two families must find a way to coexist, and the children in each are the key to the peace that must ensue so they can thrive in an unfamiliar society.
Recommended by Leslie Tetreault | Children and Teen Department Manager
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