About the Arab American Book Awards
The Arab American Book Awards is a literary program created to honor books written by and about Arab Americans. The program generates greater awareness of Arab American scholarship and writing through an annual award competition and educational outreach.
Winners and honorable mentions may be presented annually in these categories: Adult Non-Fiction – Scholarly/Academic (The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award), Adult Non-Fiction – Memoir/Creative, Adult Fiction, Poetry (The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award), and Children/Young Adult, Fiction or Non-Fiction. For the purposes of this libguide I am only including the Children Fiction or Non-Fiction book awards.
Arab American Children's Book Award 2022-2020
Arab Arab All Year Long! by Call Number: P CamCelebrate the beauty and diversity of life in the Arab diaspora throughout the year. Wrapping grape leaves, playing doumbek, drawing henna tattoos, we're Arab, Arab, Arab, the whole year through! Yallah! From January to December, join some busy kids as they partake in traditions old and new.
Home Is Not a Country by Call Number: F ElhThis powerful novel-in-verse captures one girl, caught between cultures, on an unexpected journey to face the ephemeral girl she might have been.
The Arabic Quilt by Call Number: P KhaThat night, Kanzi wraps herself in the beautiful Arabic quilt her teita (grandma) in Cairo gave her and writes a poem in Arabic about the quilt. Next day her teacher sees the poem and gets the entire class excited about creating a "quilt" (a paper collage) of student names in Arabic. In the end, Kanzi's most treasured reminder of her old home provides a pathway for acceptance in her new one.
Farah Rocks Fifth Grade by Call Number: Not in CMCFarah 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 to second-guess her choice to leave him behind at Harbortown Elementary/Middle School. Determined to handle it on her own, Farah comes up with a plan--a plan that involves lying to those closest to her. Will her lies catch up with her, or can Farah find a way to defeat the bully and rock fifth grade?
I Was Their American Dream by Call Number: GN GharibOne part Mari Andrew, one part Marjane Satrapi, I Was Their American Dream- A Graphic Memoir is a triumphant tale of self-discovery, a celebration of a family's rich heritage, and a love letter to American immigrant freedom. Malaka Gharib's illustrations, infused with teenage antics and earnest questions about identity and culture, provide thoughtful insight into the lives of modern immigrants and the generation of millennial children they raised
Arab American Honorable Mentions 2021-2020
No honorable mentions 2021.
Other Words for Home by Call Number: F WarJude never thought she'd be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven't quite prepared her for starting school in the US--and her new label of "Middle Eastern," an identity she's never known before. But this life also brings unexpected surprises--there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.
