Palestinian Authors

Explore our selection of books for all ages by Palestinian authors.

Updated March 18, 2024
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1

Halal hot dogs
Aziz, Susannah
Paper Book
Musa has the perfect idea for his special Jummah treat, but things don't go according to plan. Will Musa be able to get a yummy Jummah treat for his family? Included in USA Today's 12 books for kids to read during Ramadan! "Musa's enthusiasm for...

2

Baddawi
Abdelrazaq, Leila
Paper Book
An arrestingly drawn debut graphic novel, Baddawi is the story of a young boy named Ahmad struggling to find his place in the world. It explores the childhood of the author's father from a determinedly boy's-eye view. Ahmed was raised in the refugee camp of Baddawi in northern Lebanon, one of many...

3

These olive trees
Ghanameh, Aya
Paper Book
The story of a Palestinian family's ties to the land, and how one young girl finds a way to care for her home, even as she says goodbye. It's 1967 in Nablus, Palestine. Oraib loves the olive trees that grow outside the refugee camp where she lives. Each harvest, she...

Also available in eBook format.

4

Eleven words for love : a journey through Arabic expressions of love
Abdel-Fattah, Randa
Paper Book
A lyrical narrative of a Palestinian family in exile explores universal bonds of family, loyalty, and friendship through the lens of eleven Arabic expressions for love. A family has fled their homeland in search of safety in another country, carrying a single suitcase. As their...

Also available in eBook format.

5

Homeland : my father dreams of Palestine
Moushabeck, Hannah
Paper Book
A father and his daughters may not be able to return home . . . but they can celebrate stories of their homeland! As bedtime approaches, three young girls eagerly await the return of their father who tells them stories of a faraway homeland--Palestine....

Also available in eBook format.

6

Mother of Strangers : A Novel
Amiry, Suad.
Paper Book
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR from NPR  * Set in Jaffa in between 1947 and 1951, this "fable-like historical novel of young love ... darkly humorous and touching" (Oprah Daily) is based on a true story during the beginning of the destruction of Palestine and displacement of its...

7

Mis(h)adra
Ata, Iasmin Omar
Paper Book
An Arab-American college student struggles to live with epilepsy in this starkly colored and deeply-cutting graphic novel. Isaac wants nothing more than to be a functional college student--but managing his epilepsy is an exhausting battle to survive. He attempts to maintain a...

8

The lines we cross
Abdel-Fattah, Randa
Paper Book
A remarkable story about the power of tolerance from one of the most important voices in contemporary Muslim literature, critically acclaimed author Randa Abdel-Fattah.Michael likes to hang out with his friends and play with the latest graphic design software. His parents drag him to rallies held by...

9

Against the loveless world : a novel
Abulhawa, Susan
Paper Book
2020 Palestine Book Awards Winner 2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist "Susan Abulhawa possesses the heart of a warrior; she looks into the darkest crevices of lives, conflicts, horrendous injustices, and dares to shine light that can illuminate hidden worlds...

10

Courting Samira : a novel
Awad, Amal
Paper Book
Set in Sydney, Australia, Courting Samira is a charming, big-hearted rom-com about a twenty-seven-year-old Palestinian woman who finds herself in an unexpected love triangle--a sparkling ode to meddling best friends, traditional courtship, The Princess Bride, and, of course, the possibility of...

11

We are Palestinian : a celebration of culture and tradition
Kassis, Reem
Paper Book
A stunning non-fiction children's book celebrating everything Palestinian! BOOKSTAGANG BEST BOOK OF 2023 WINNER  From culture and food, to music and literature, We Are Palestinian is a celebration of Palestinian heritage....

Canadian author.

12

Enter ghost
Hammad, Isabella
Paper Book
Winner of the Aspen Words Literary Prize  Winner of the Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award  Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction  A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book of the Year "Assured...

Also available in eBook format.

13

The arsonists' city
Alyan, Hala
Paper Book
"Feels revolutionary in its freshness." --Entertainment Weekly "The Arsonists' City delivers all the pleasures of a good old-fashioned saga, but in Alyan's hands, one family's tale becomes the story of a nation--Lebanon and Syria, yes, but also the United States. It's...
Also available in eBook format.

14

Something more
Khalilieh, Jackie
Paper Book
Fifteen-year-old Jessie, a quirky loner obsessed with the nineties, is diagnosed as autistic just weeks before starting high school. Determined to make a fresh start and keep her diagnosis a secret, Jessie creates a list of goals that range from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author

15

The beauty of your face : a novel
Mustafah, Sahar
Paper Book
A uniquely American story told in powerful, evocative prose, The Beauty of Your Face navigates a country growing ever more divided. Afaf Rahman, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, is the principal of Nurrideen School for Girls, a Muslim school in the Chicago suburbs. One morning, a shooter-...
Also available in eBook format.

16

You exist too much : a novel
Arafat, Zaina
Paper Book
A "provocative and seductive debut" of desire and doubleness that follows the life of a young Palestinian American woman caught between cultural, religious, and sexual identities as she endeavors to lead an authentic life (O, The Oprah Magazine). On a hot day in Bethlehem,...
Also available in eBook format.

17

Evil Eye: A Novel
Rum, Etaf
Paper Book
An NPR Best Book of the Year · A Time Magazine Most Anticipated Book of the Year "A moving meditation on motherhood, intergenerational trauma and how surface appearances often obscure a deeper truth. . . . A stunning second novel from a writer who set the bar very high with her...
Also available in Large Print format.

18

Les Racistes Nont Jamais Vu la Mer
Saint Éloi, Rodney
Paper Book

Deux ecrivains racises pensent le racisme dans une conversation a batons rompus. Sans animosite ni complaisance. Ils font appel a leurs experiences et a leur vecu. Ils invoquent la traversee de leurs pays d’origine au Quebec. Un livre coup de poing ou tout se dit entre vous, entre nous, ces sujets delicats qu’on n’ose pas aborder. Ils essaient de tout nommer, meme ces mots tabous que l’on se chuchote, pour depasser l’entre-soi et trouver le langage qui permet de regarder demain et de construire un vivre ensemble.

Auteurs canadiens.

19

Minor detail
Shibli?, ?Adani?yah
Paper Book
Minor Detail begins during the summer of 1949, one year after the war that the Palestinians mourn as the Nakba--the catastrophe that led to the displacement and exile of some 700,000 people--and the Israelis celebrate as the War of Independence. Israeli soldiers murder an encampment of Bedouin in...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

20

A woman is no man : a novel
Rum, Etaf
Paper Book
A Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist for Best Fiction and Best Debut * BookBrowse's Best Book of the Year * A Marie Claire Best Women's Fiction of the Year * A Real Simple Best Book of the Year * A PopSugar Best Book of the Year * A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * A...

Also available in DAISY, eBook and eAudiobook formats.

21

Her first Palestinian : and other stories
Teebi, Saeed
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2022 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize Elegant, surprising stories about Palestinian immigrants in Canada navigating their identities in circumstances that push them to the emotional brink. Saeed Teebi's intense, engrossing stories plunge into the...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author

22

Jamilah at the end of the world
Zeitoun, Mary-Lou
Paper Book
Seventeen-year-old Jamilah Monsour makes plans for what she's certain is the beginning of the climate change catastrophe that will end the world. Luckily, Jamilah knows what has to be done to save her family: reluctantly her parents allow her to transform the back alley garage into a bunker, but...

Canadian author.

23

Wishing upon the same stars
Feldman, Jacquetta Nammar
Paper Book
This powerful and poignant coming-of-age middle grade debut novel follows an Arab American girl named Yasmeen as she moves to San Antonio with her family and navigates finding friendship--and herself. Perfect for fans of Other Words for Home, Front Desk, and American as Paneer...
Also available in eBook format.

24

I shall not hate : a Gaza doctor's journey
Abuelaish, Izzeldin.
Paper Book
"What can you do? You can do a lot. You can support justice for all by speaking out loudly to your family, friends, community, politicians and religious leaders. You can support foundations that do good work. You can volunteer for humanitarian organizations. You can vote regressive...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

25

The words of my father : love and pain in Palestine
Bashir, Yousef Khalil
Paper Book
"A work of profound spiritual beauty. . . . Offers all of us hope that this seemingly intractable conflict can find a solution that is just to both sides." -- Yossi Klein Halevi, author of the New York Times bestseller Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor A...
Also available in eBook format.

26

The hookah girl and other true stories
Dabaie, Marguerite
Paper Book
In this current political climate, being a Palestinian is a hazard. However, there are common grounds where East meets West. The Hookah Girl is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel of a childhood as a Christian Palestinian in America....

27

Stories from Palestine : narratives of resilience
Dunsky, Marda
Paper Book
Stories from Palestine profiles Palestinians engaged in creative and productive pursuits in their everyday lives in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Their narratives amplify perspectives and experiences of Palestinians exercising their own constructive agency. In...

28

Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine
Erakat, Noura
Paper Book
Justice in the Question of Palestine is often framed as a question of law. Yet none of the Israel-Palestinian conflict's most vexing challenges have been resolved by judicial intervention. Occupation law has failed to stem Israel's settlement enterprise. Laws of war have permitted killing and...

29

Nayra and the djinn
Ata, Iasmin Omar
Paper Book
In this coming-of-age graphic novel with a fantastical twist, Nayra Mansour, a Muslim American girl, is helped on her journey to selfhood by a djinn. Nothing is going right for Nayra Mansour. There's the constant pressure from her strict family, ruthless bullying from her...

30

Palestine on a plate : memories from my mother's kitchen
Kalla, Joudie
Paper Book
Palestinian food is not just found on the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem with the ka'ak (sesame) bread sellers and stalls selling za'atar chicken and mana'eesh (za'atar and sesame bread), but in the home too; in the kitchens all across the country, where families cook and eat...

31

Eleven Lives: Stories from Palestinian Exiles
Khalidi, Muhammad Ali
Paper Book
Written by the refugees themselves, this highly original anthology of Palestinians forced to live outside their homeland brings together stories of what it means to be exiled, reflections on the events that led to being displaced, and the raw experience of daily life in a camp. ...

32

The wall between : what Jews and Palestinians don't want to know about each other
Khouri, Raja G.
Paper Book
The Wall Between is a book about the wall that exists between Jewish and Palestinian communities in the Diaspora. Distrust, enmity, and hate are common currencies. They manifest at university campuses, schools and school boards, at political events, on social media, and in academic circles. For Jews...

Canadian author.

33

Cast away : poems for our time
Nye, Naomi Shihab
Paper Book
"Nye at her engaging, insightful best." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Acclaimed poet and Young People's Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye shines a spotlight on the things we cast away, from plastic water bottles to those less fortunate, in this collection of more than eighty...

34

We are not here to be bystanders : a memoir of love and resistance
Sarsour, Linda
Paper Book
Linda Sarsour, co-organizer of the Women's March, shares an "unforgettable memoir" (Booklist) about how growing up Palestinian Muslim American, feminist, and empowered moved her to become a globally recognized activist on behalf of marginalized communities across the country.

35

Where the line is drawn : a tale of crossings, friendships, and fifty years of occupation in Israel-Palestine
Shehadeh, Raja
Paper Book
"[Shehadeh's] books are maps, painstakingly pieced together, of regions lost to senseless division, to bad choices, and to lies." --The Nation "Remarkable and hopeful . . . a deeply honest and intense memoir." --Gal Beckerman, The New York Times...

36

They called me a lioness : a Palestinian girl's fight for freedom
Tamimi, Ahed
Paper Book
A Palestinian activist jailed at sixteen after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers illuminates the daily struggles of life under occupation in this moving, deeply personal memoir. "I cannot even begin to convey the clarity, the intensity, the power, the photographic storytelling of...

37

Advocating for Palestine in Canada: Histories, Movements, Action
Wills, Emily Regan
Paper Book
Why is it so difficult to advocate for Palestine in Canada and what can we learn from the movement's successes? This account of Palestine solidarity activism in Canada grapples with these questions through a wide-ranging exploration of the movement's different actors, approaches and fields of...

Canadian authors.

38

Farah rocks fifth grade
Darraj, Susan Muaddi
Paper Book
Farah and her best friend, Allie Liu, are getting excited to turn in their applications to the Magnet Academy, where they both hope to attend sixth grade. But when new girl Dana Denver shows up, Farah's world is turned upside down. As Dana starts bullying Farah's little brother, Samir, Farah begins...

Also available in eBook format.

39

Sitti's bird : a Gaza story
Mattar, Malak
Paper Book
Malak is a little girl who lives in Gaza with her parents. She goes to school, plays in the ocean, and visits Sitti's house on Fridays. One day while she is in school, bombings begin. She spends the next 50 days at home with her parents worrying and feeling scared, until one day she picks up her...

40

La folie de melon d'eau
Najjar, Taghrid Arif.
Paper Book

Noura aime le melon d’eau un peu, beaucoup, passionnement, a la folie. Elle en raffole tant qu’elle en reve la nuit. Un reve debordant de realisme lui fera comprendre l’importance de varier son alimentation.


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