A mysterious and noteworthy place, the Middle East has not always been viewed favorably. However, as the birthplace of modern civilization, the Middle East has shaped modern society. The books in this list are selected for young adult readers and feature authors and characters from and settings within the Middle East. Realistic fiction and fantasy tell stories that connect young adult readers of all backgrounds with this unique part of the world.
Contributed by: Mary Lanni

	Does My Head Look Big in This? By: Randa Abdel-Fattah Year Eleven at an exclusive prep school in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, would be challenging enough. Still, it is further complicated for Amal when she decides to wear the hijab, the Muslim headscarf, full-time as a badge of her faith—without losing her identity or sense of style.
	Down and Across By: Arvin Ahmadi His friends know what they want to do with the rest of their lives, but Scott Ferdowsi can hardly commit to a breakfast cereal, let alone a passion. With his parents pushing him to settle on a “practical” career, Scott sneaks off to Washington, DC, seeking guidance from a famous psychologist who claims to know the secret to success. He meets Fiora Buchanan, a ballsy college student whose life ambition is to write crossword puzzles. Now Scott is sneaking into bars, attempting to pick up girls at the National Zoo, and even giving the crossword thing a try. Will he be able to find out who he is—and who he wants to be?
	An Ember in the Ashes By: Sabaa Tahir Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars claiming that they will help save her brother from execution.
	A Girl Like That By: Tanaz Bhathena In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, sixteen-year-old half-Hindu/half-Parsi Zarin Wadia is the class troublemaker and top subject for the school rumor blogs, regularly leaving class to smoke cigarettes in cars with boys. Still, she also desperately wants to grow up and move out of her aunt and uncle’s house, perhaps realizing too late that Porus, another non-Muslim Indian who risks deportation but remains devoted to Zarin, could help her escape.
	The Glass Collector By: Anna Perera A fifteen-year-old boy lives amongst the rubbish piles in Cairo’s slums and collects broken glass while hoping to find a future he can believe in.
	Habibi By: Naomi Shihab Nye Fourteen-year-old Liyanne Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village where her father was born. There, they face many changes and must deal with the tensions between Jews and Palestinians.
	Mirage By: Somaiya Daud In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, sixteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that she, too, will have adventure and travel one day beyond her isolated moon. But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place. As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty and her time with the princess’s fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear, and one wrong move could lead to her death.
	Rebel of the Sands By: Alwyn Hamilton Amani is desperate to leave the dead-end town of Dustwalk, and she’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to help her escape. But after she meets Jin, the mysterious rebel running from the Sultan’s army, she unlocks the powerful truth about the desert nation of Miraji…and herself.
	Rebels by Accident By: Patricia Dunn Mariam, a troubled teenage Egyptian American, is sent to live with her grandmother in Cairo. There, she meets Asmaa, a girl who calls Egypt’s people to protest against their president. Now Mariam finds herself in the middle of a revolution and falling in love for the first time.
	A Very Large Expanse of Sea By: Tahereh Mafi A year after 9/11, Muslim teenager Shirin has completely withdrawn from social life until she meets Ocean James in her biology class and is tempted to actually let her guard down.
	We Hunt the Flame By: Hafsah Faizal Zafira, who disguises herself as a man to become The Hunter, and Nasir, an assassin for his father, the sultan, are both seeking a lost artifact that could return magic to their cursed world.
	Where the Streets Had a Name By: Randa Abdel-Fattah Thirteen-year-old Hayaat of Bethlehem faces checkpoints, curfews, and the travel permit system designed to keep people on the West Bank when she attempts to go to her grandmother’s ancestral home in Jerusalem with her best friend.

Into the Streets: A Young Person’s Visual History of Protest in the United States
By: Marke Bieschke
Reviewed by: James Smith

Mark Bieschke, the author/activist behind “Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens” and former editor of Gay.com and PlanetOut.com, captures nearly five centuries of protest history in this, his latest book. Bieschke opens with a brief introduction to protest: what it is, some of its types, and why it happens. The majority of the text, though, is devoted to protests themselves. Part historical documentation, part poignant cultural criticism, each chapter focuses on a single protest, from the well-known Women’s March to more obscure forms of protest like The Battle of Athens and the Nuclear Freeze Rally. Bieschke’s visually stunning book draws readers through sit-ins and marches, through rallies and riots. Historical images and powerful sidebars highlight subjects such as youth activism and protest art while providing additional commentary on the more straightforward main text. At its core, a guide for young people, the book closes with suggested guidelines for how to start a protest, as well as a short annotated bibliography for further reading. This book will be a welcome addition for collections seeking to facilitate honest, clear conversation about inequality in the United States and the strategies being used to address it.
 

As 2018 became a page in the history books, newscasters reflected on the big stories of the year. Most stories were sad- senseless shootings in schools and malls, accusations of workplace misconduct, devastating and deadly weather- mixed in with a few feel-good viral videos. What was so eerie about the disturbing stories of the year were how they were so like problems America faced exactly 50 years ago.

1968 was a year marked with social injustice. People of color were still being marginalized and women were trying to gain footing in the workplace. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. The result of these challenges were citizens willing to stand up and protest for change. The Civil Rights Movement expanded north. “Women’s Lib,” short for women’s liberation, became the term used for women protesting for equal rights. Students became involved in areas that affected them, such as when Chicano students, angry over poor school resources and curriculum, walked out of East Los Angeles high schools.

Fast forward 50 years. Families and friends marched in protest of the killings of their African-American loved ones. Women marched for physical violence against them to stop. Students protested for safety in their schools. March for Our Lives was the name of the student protests. March for Our Lives- it pains me to hear this phrase; that such an educated society has children pleading for their safety in a place of learning. Reflecting on all these protests we are left with asking why our society has not learned from 1968. Why must we continue to fight the same battles repeatedly, decades apart? The only solace is that there are still people willing to fight the battles.

As 2019 begins, newscasters have moved onto stories about New Year’s resolutions and how we can better ourselves this year. I’ve seen stories about weight loss, decluttering, less screen time. Instead of just personal goals this year, what about goals you can achieve to make our world a better place? Are you disturbed by pollution, bullying, inequality? What ills in society do you want resolved and not existing another 50 years from now? How will you make a mark in 2019? Making an impact on the world betters not only ourselves, but society. Maybe 2019 can be the year battles experience bigger wins with your help.