Mafi,Tahereh. This Woven Kingdom. Feb. 2022, 512 pp. HarperCollins, $19.99. (9780062972446). Grades 9 – 12 In the world of This Woven Kingdom, once powerful Jinn are living as second-class citizens to humans.  Alizeh is a Jinn; alone in the world at a young age, she works laborious jobs for humans in order to survive. Because of the actions of Iblees, who eventually became Shaytan (the devil), her people are collectively demonized, even at a truce with human beings, their powers are reduced, and they are subject to constant exploitation and threats of violence. Alizeh is additionally set ..read more

An image of the author from her website: ayakhalil.com Aya Khalil is the author of award-winning picture book, The Arabic Quilt (illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan), Egypt (illustrated by Magda Azab), upcoming books The Great Banned-Books Bake Sale (with Anait Semirdzhyan, August 2023), and The Night Before Eid (illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh) released on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Along with her work as an author in children’s literature, Khalil is a freelance journalist and holds a master’s degree in Education with a focus in teaching English as a second Language. She is involved in a variety of ..read more

Rachel Lynn Solomon. We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This, June 8, 2021. 336p. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $19.99. (9781534440272). Grades 9-12. We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon is an opposites attract romance set in the world of weddings and wedding planning with much needed conversations about mental illness. Protagonist Quinn Berkowitz grew up watching her family (her parent’s and older sister) help create their clients’ dream weddings and happily ever afters, despite seeing her parents go through rough patches in their own relationship. Now eighteen and w ..read more

Cooke, Stephanie and Costa, Mari. ParaNorthern: And the Chaos Bunny A-hop-calypse, July 2021. 240pp. Etch/Clarion Books, $19.99. (9780358168997). Grades 3 – 7. Stephanie Cooke’s ParaNorthern (illustrated by Mari Costa) is a humorous and heartfelt graphic novel fit for any age group. When young witch Abby Morgan accidentally opens a portal in the magical realm of North Haven unleashing a horde of chaos bunnies, her initial instinct is to keep the problem to herself. When she realizes that these destructive hares are too big of a job to take care of on her own she must look beyond her worries an ..read more

Salaam/Greetings of Peace! You may have noticed that our collective has not been very active over this past year. The reality of professional responsibilities and other life changing events during the pandemic/endemic we have been unable to be consistently active for a bit. We will post our favorites of 2022 in the first quarter of 2023 along with our release calendar and hope for a return to normal activity later this year, insha’Allah. Thank you for your readership, support, and consideration! -The Hijabi Librarians ..read more

Sarsour, Linda. We’re in This Together: A Young Readers Edition of We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Nov. 2022. 240. Tr $17.99. ISBN  9781534439290. In this Young Readers’ edition of her 2020 memoir We Are Not Here To Be Bystanders, Linda Sarsour narrates and reflects upon the events that shaped her into the person and activist she is today. Outlined in chapters, Sarsour makes connections to her life experiences and her work with a multitude of communities that she is a part of and influenced by, her role as co-chair of the Women ..read more

Khan, Sabina. Zara Hossain is Here. Scholastic Inc. Apr. 2021. 256p. Tr. $19.95. ISBN 9781773214900. Grades 7-12. Zara Hossain is Here by Sabina Khan tells the story of Zara, a queer Muslim Pakistani high schooler as she navigates family, love, and racism in Corpus Christi, Texas. Having been in the United States since she was three years old, Zara and her family are comfortable and integrated in their community. However, their lack of green card status keeps her from feeling truly secure. And when Zara speaks out against racism and harassment at the hands of a classmate Tyler, she must deal w ..read more

Sana Rafi is the author of Little Seeds of Promise, and the upcoming title A Mermaid Girl. You can find out more about Sana, her projects and her thoughts, on her website by following her on Twitter and Instagram. Interview Questions were compiled by Noureen Qadir Jafar and Amna Hussain When did you decide you wanted to be a writer? What inspired you to write for children and how did Little Seeds of Promise come about? I don’t know if I ever actively decided to be a writer. It was a part of me from a very early age. I remember loving my elementary school English teacher. I remember looking for ..read more

This list represents some of our favorite Children’s and Young Adult books that we read and were published in 2021. As with our previous lists, these choices are based on their thoughtful and nuanced treatment of Muslims and Islam, and the intersections of identity. We are pleased to see the steady growth of books by Muslim authors and with Muslim protagonists being published by mainstream publishers, and considered over 100 titles, children’s, young adult, and adult titles with YA appeal when creating this list. This year, graphic novels are in their age associated categories. A PDF version o ..read more

This review was originally published in School Library Journal. Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin’s Hijab by Priya Huq Abrams. Nov. 2021. 224p. Tr $22.99. ISBN 9781419740169. Gr 7 Up—In Portland, OR, in 2002, eighth grader Nisrin Moniruzzaman is proud to share her Bangladeshi heritage and cultural dress with her school community during a celebration of world cultures. But on her way home from school with a friend who is Black and Iranian, the girls suffer a violent racist attack, and Nisrin’s orna, a shawl-like scarf, is ripped from her head. In the following months, both girls struggle to h ..read more