#muslimshelfspace

[richincolor]

[The images are book covers for each of the titles mentioned below and are described in more detail within the blog post on our site here http://richincolor.com/2023/04/muslim-voices-3/]

Muslim Voices 2023

Ramadan is a great time to pick up a book by a Muslim author. If you're on Twitter and/or Instagram, a few hashtags to watch for are #ramadanreads, #ramadanreadathon, and #muslimshelfspace. I'm including a video about the origin of #muslimshelfspace. That hashtag was instrumental in helping me find, read, and share titles by Muslim authors back in 2017.

If you would like to read books by Muslim authors during Ramadan or anytime this year, here are a few we'd recommend.

Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers [Audrey's Review]

13 points noun: a person or thing that precipitates an event or change

When Najwa Bakri walks into her first Scrabble competition since her best friend’s death, it’s with the intention to heal and move on with her life. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to choose the very same competition where said best friend, Trina Low, died. It might be even though Najwa’s trying to change, she’s not ready to give up Trina just yet.

But the same can’t be said for all the other competitors. With Trina, the Scrabble Queen herself, gone, the throne is empty, and her friends are eager to be the next reigning champion. All’s fair in love and Scrabble, but all bets are off when Trina’s formerly inactive Instagram starts posting again, with cryptic messages suggesting that maybe Trina’s death wasn’t as straightforward as everyone thought. And maybe someone at the competition had something to do with it.

As secrets are revealed and the true colors of her friends are shown, it’s up to Najwa to find out who’s behind these mysterious posts—not just to save Trina’s memory, but to save herself.

Love from Mecca to Medina (and Love from A to Z) by S.K. Ali Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Adam and Zayneb. Perfectly matched. Painfully apart.

Adam is in Doha, Qatar, making a map of the Hijra, a historic migration from Mecca to Medina, and worried about where his next paycheck will come from. Zayneb is in Chicago, where school and extracurricular stresses are piling on top of a terrible frenemy situation, making her miserable.

Then a marvel occurs: Adam and Zayneb get the chance to spend Thanksgiving week on the Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia. Adam is thrilled; it’s the reboot he needs and an opportunity to pray for a hijra in real life: to migrate to Zayneb in Chicago. Zayneb balks at the trip at first, having envisioned another kind of vacation, but then decides a spiritual reset is calling her name too. And they can’t wait to see each other—surely, this is just what they both need.

But the trip is nothing like what they expect, from the appearance of Adam’s former love interest in their traveling group to the anxiety gripping Zayneb when she’s supposed to be “spiritual.” As one wedge after another drives them apart while they make their way through rites in the holy city, Adam and Zayneb start to wonder: was their meeting just an oddity after all? Or can their love transcend everything else like the greatest marvels of the world?

Travelers Along the Way: A Robin Hood Remix by Aminah Mae Safi Feiwel and Friends [Crystal's review]

Jerusalem, 1192. The Third Crusade rages on. Rahma al-Hud loyally followed her elder sister Zeena into the war over the Holy Land, but now that the Faranji invaders have gotten reinforcements from Richard the Lionheart, all she wants to do is get herself and her sister home alive.

But Zeena, a soldier of honor at heart, refuses to give up the fight while Jerusalem remains in danger of falling back into the hands of the false Queen Isabella. And so, Rahma has no choice but to take on one final mission with her sister.

On their journey to Jerusalem, Rahma and Zeena come across a motley collection of fellow travelers―including a softspoken Mongolian warrior, an eccentric Andalusian scientist, a frustratingly handsome spy with a connection to Rahma’s childhood, and an unfortunate English chaplain abandoned behind enemy lines. The teens all find solace, purpose and camaraderie―as well as a healthy bit of mischief―in each other’s company.

But their travels soon bring them into the orbit of Queen Isabella herself, whose plans to re-seize power in Jerusalem would only guarantee further war and strife in the Holy Land for years to come. And so it falls to the merry band of misfits to use every scrap of cunning and wit (and not a small amount of thievery) to foil the usurper queen and perhaps finally restore peace to the land.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir Razorbill

Lahore, Pakistan. Then. Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.

Juniper, California. Now. Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.

Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.

When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.

From one of today’s most cherished and bestselling young adult authors comes a breathtaking novel of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness—one that’s both tragic and poignant in its tender ferocity.

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi & Dr. Yusef Salaam with illustrations by Omar T. Pasha -- Balzer + Bray [Our group discussion] [Interview with authors]

The story that I thought was my life didn’t start on the day I was born

Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.

The story that I think will be my life starts today

Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?

With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.

If you have titles to add, please let us know in the comments.

[2021ya]

IT ALL COMES BACK TO YOU

by Farah Naz Rishi

(Quill Tree Books, 9/14/21)

9780062741486

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After Kiran Noorani's mom died, Kiran vowed to keep her dad and sister, Amira, close. Then out of the blue, Amira announces that she's dating someone and might move cross-country with him. Kiran is thrown. Deen Malik is thrilled that his older brother, Faisal, has found a great girlfriend, even if it's getting serious quickly. Maybe now their parents' focus will shift off Deen, who feels intense pressure to be the perfect son. When Deen and Kiran come fact to face, they silently agree to keep their past a secret. Four years ago--before Amira and Faisal met--Kiran and Deen dated. But Deen ghosted Kiran with no explanation. Kiran will stop at nothing to find out what happened, and Deen will do anything, even if it means sabotaging his brother's relationship, to keep her from reaching the truth. Though the chemistry between Kiran and Deen is undeniable, can either of them take down their walls?

-

Content warnings: References to death of a parent, references to drug use, emotional abuse, anxiety, guilt.

[2020ya]

 THE CAT I NEVER NAMED

A TRUE STORY OF LOVE, WAR, AND SURVIVAL 

by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess & Laura L. Sullivan (Illustrator)

(Bloomsbury, 9/8/20)

9781547604531

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The stunning memoir of a Muslim teen struggling to survive the Bosnian genocide--and the stray cat who protected her family through it all. Amra was a teen in Bihac, Bosnia, when her friend said they couldn’t speak anymore because Amra was Muslim. Then refugees from other cities started arriving, fleeing Serbian persecution. When Serbian tanks rolled into Bihac, the life she knew disappeared—right as a stray cat followed her home. Her family didn’t have the money to keep a pet, but after the cat seemed to save her brother, how could they turn it away? Saving a life one time could be a coincidence, but then it happened again—and Amra and her family wondered just what this cat was. This is the story of a teen who, even in the brutality of war, never wavered in her determination to obtain education, maintain friendships, and even find a first love—and the cat that provided comfort, and maybe even served as a guardian spirit, in the darkest of times.

[0nce-upon-a-tome]

In 2019, I had the incredible honour of reading a dear friend’s debut novel and it easily became one of the most wonderful stories I have ever read and one of the best books I’ve read this year. It’s a tale of strength and beauty and imagination and was a remarkable reminder of the power of storytelling. Seeing myself in the characters and experiencing my culture through the magically created universe and inspiring fantasy elements and the gloriously scrumptious food was such an emotional experience for me. I’ve read it numerous times since it’s release and I shall cherish this for as long as I’m a living, breathing human coffee bean. ❤️ . . . . @nafizaaz #bookstagram #diversebooks #ownvoices #weneeddiversebooks #yafantasybooks #booksof2019 #bestbooksof2019 #youngadultbooks #youngadultfiction #beautifulbooks #bibliophilelife #bookworm #muslimshelfspace #bookphoto #booktography #bookaholic #bookish #booklover #booknerd #newbooks #bookgram #booklr #fantasybooks https://www.instagram.com/p/B6oqDVpgsmG/?igshid=1qwcmx004dxih

[chasingsakina]

•7/27• #TheRamadanSeries ✍🏽 ft. #RamadanReadathon 📖 🕌 . This week the theme is ‘Prayer’ #wordprompt : use a quote/dua . I used sentences from these pages as inspiration for this piece (swipe write to read). . #bookfeatured : ‘Black Sheep’ by @naimabrobert : I remember reading this book & falling deeper in love with each passing page - the richness of diversity it includes - the realistic struggles of being a YA in the west - embracing #selflove - finding the strength to deal / come to terms with truth once presented with it. . This book may be overlooked/judged for its cover but the content it holds is a testament to why we should never judge books by its cover - especially in this day and age of always reaching for things that are only #aestheticallypleasing (which in no means is something to be ashamed of, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t adore pretty things myself! 🙈🙊- but my point is - always give #books a chance regardless of how it looks 👍🏽✨) . . . . . . #muslimshelfspace | #bookstagram | #spilledink | #writersofig | #ramadanreflections | #chasingsakina | #writingcommunity | #blackrepresentation | #muslimauthor https://www.instagram.com/p/BxKUGU8AghU/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=l03105eegmj1

[sadafsyed]

“To be able to win a Daybreak Book Award for my photo documentary book iCOVER means a lot to me. Daybreak Press Publishing is founded and run by all female employees, whom I happen to admire so much. Similarly, that’s how iCOVER was created. iCOVER was nurtured by creative females in order to celebrate moments in the day-to-day lives of these Muslim women - moments that the average American can relate to once they embrace the fact that these women wear hijab.” - Sadaf Syed @sadafsyedart, Daybreak Book Award Winner for Best Nonfiction Book (iCOVER) . . Repost from @daybreakpresspublishing using @_repostplus #sadafsyedart #sadafsyed #icover #book #art #photo #photographer #bookawardwinners #photobook #nonfictionbooks #bookaward #muslimauthor #muslimshelfspace #hijabstories #tamaragray #ansetamaragray https://www.instagram.com/p/B5yEZ60Aeyc/?igshid=18andcvqiji18

[yalibooks]

From @debasmitadasgupta’s sketchbook - Mina is talking to her village doodhwallah (milkman). Mina wants to know why it has to rain during the monsoon. The milkman tells her not to sulk: it is a time to dance and be happy! Mina isn’t so sure. A day without soccer doesn’t seem like a happy one😞 . . . How are you celebrating #bookweek100? Find Mina and her ammi at your local library, school, or bookstore! . . . #minavsthemonsoon #diversekidlit #childrensbookweek #kidlitart #picturebookart #sketchbook #illustration #kidlitillustration #monsoon #muslimkidlit #muslimshelfspace #girlpower #soccergirls #weneeddiversebooks https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw9pzgEpAJa/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vaulwnidlybk

[akzfineart]

One of my most anticipated spring releases came out yesterday! I’m so glad I finally get to read LOVE FROM A TO Z by S.K. Ali 💙 Every part of this book is incredible - from the cover to the synopsis to the gorgeous hardback & spine! You definitely need to pick this up 😍📚 #bookstagram #books #reading #yabooks #lovefromatoz #skali #simonteen #simonandschuster #canlit #ownvoices #coverlust #yacontemporary #contemporary #salaamreads #muslimshelfspace https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw7yFKGHM2i/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=o0ukjvaaut9d

[bookriot]

In response to the Trump-fuelled Islamophobic hate crime by a white nationalist in Quebec City on January 29th, I’ve made this list of books by Canadian Muslim authors. Below you’ll find YA, memoir, mystery, and literary fiction. To find more Muslim books, check out the #MuslimShelfSpace tag on Twitter and other social media!

http://bookriot.com/2017/02/09/five-great-canadian-muslim-books/

[theheartofabookblogger]

Who are some of your local authors? • • Today’s #SignedBookSundays theme is verb in the title, so I chose the SHATTER ME series! Fun fact, Tahereh Mafi is a local author to me and she did the launch party for DEFY ME at the bookstore I was working at back then. • • • #imagineme #defyme #shatterme #unravelme #igniteme #restoreme #taherehmafi #epicreads #bookshimmy #yareads #yabooks #yabookstagram #bookobsessed #booksbooksbooks #yadystopian #yafantasy #yaromance #bookombre #bookstack #bookspines #booksandflowers #yalit #weneeddiverseauthors #muslimshelfspace #booksconnectus #boostingya #signedbook #signedbooks #localauthors

[richincolor]

Muslim Voices 2020

Ramadan is coming soon and it’s a wonderful reminder to buy and/or borrow books by Muslim authors. Fortunately, there are many excellent books to choose from. If you’re interested in being part of an online event, Nadia over at Headscarves and Hardbacks is hosting the #RamadanReadathon again this year. Whether you participate or not, you can still consult her extensive list of books by Muslim authors that are being published this year. She also had a list in 2019 if you need or want to catch up on older titles.

There are also two other hashtags that may also be helpful for locating titles or even sharing them yourself — #MuslimShelfSpace and #RamadanReads. I’m not Muslim, but over the past few years I’ve found many fantastic books through these hashtags and events. I appreciate this opportunity to learn about books I might not discover otherwise and have the reminder to support Muslim creators. These three books are on my TBR so far. One is from last year, one is from this month, and one will be released next month. 

A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir Razorbill

Beyond the Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.

The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while the Commandant capitalizes on his madness to bolster her own power. As Helene searches for a way to hold back the approaching darkness, her sister’s life and the lives of all those in the Empire hang in the balance.

Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But while hunting for a way to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would aid her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she’d have to fight.

And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that will stop at nothing to ensure Elias’s devotion–even at the cost of his humanity.

Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed Soho Teen

It’s August in Paris and 17-year-old Khayyam Maquet—American, French, Indian, Muslim—is at a crossroads. This holiday with her professor parents should be a dream trip for the budding art historian. But her maybe-ex-boyfriend is probably ghosting her, she might have just blown her chance at getting into her dream college, and now all she really wants is to be back home in Chicago figuring out her messy life instead of brooding in the City of Light.

Two hundred years before Khayyam’s summer of discontent, Leila is struggling to survive and keep her true love hidden from the Pasha who has “gifted” her with favored status in his harem. In the present day—and with the company of a descendant of Alexandre Dumas—Khayyam begins to connect allusions to an enigmatic 19th-century Muslim woman whose path may have intersected with Alexandre Dumas, Eugène Delacroix, and Lord Byron.

Echoing across centuries, Leila and Khayyam’s lives intertwine, and as one woman’s long-forgotten life is uncovered, another’s is transformed.

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar Page Street Kids [pub date May 12, 2020]

When Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants—as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to hide who she is, but she also doesn’t want to lose her relationship with her family. And her life only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life.

Flávia is beautiful and charismatic and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat choose to do henna, even though Flávia is appropriating Nishat’s culture. Amidst sabotage and school stress, their lives get more tangled—but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush on Flávia, and realizes there might be more to her than she realized.

[2021ya]

HUDA F ARE YOU?

by Huda Fahmy

(Dial, 11/23/21)

9780593324318

.

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From the creator of the hugely popular webcomic Yes I'm Hot In This comes a graphic novel about a young American Muslim growing up and figuring out who she is Huda and her family just moved to Dearborn, Michigan, a small town with a big Muslim population. But Huda doesn't fit in--when everyone is Muslim, there's no Muslim clique like there was in her last town, and Huda's not a sporty hijabi or a fashionista hijabi or a gamer hijabi. She's just Huda, and she's not sure what that means. She tries on all kinds of identities and friends, but nothing fits quite right. Until she realizes she can get back to the basics.

[2020ya]

HOW IT ALL BLEW UP

by Arvin Ahmadi

(Viking, 9/22/20)

9780593202876

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Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda goes to Italy in Arvin Ahmadi's newest incisive look at identity and what it means to find yourself by running away. Eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi always knew coming out to his Muslim family would be messy--he just didn't think it would end in an airport interrogation room. But when faced with a failed relationship, bullies, and blackmail, running away to Rome is his only option. Right? Soon, late nights with new friends and dates in the Sistine Chapel start to feel like second nature... until his old life comes knocking on his door. Now, Amir has to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth to a U.S. Customs officer, or risk losing his hard-won freedom. At turns uplifting and devastating, How It All Blew Up is Arvin Ahmadi's most powerful novel yet, a celebration of how life's most painful moments can live alongside the riotous, life-changing joys of discovering who you are.

[fatinrosnan]

[#𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟_ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕤] 👇🏻 __________________________________________ 📚: Saints and Misfits 👩🏻‍💼: S.K. Ali ⭐️: 3.5/5 🛒: @bookdepository ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I picked this book as #RamadhanReadathon since it is a Muslim Rep book. Honestly, the only thing I love about this book is the cover and that’s all. Not sure how or where to begin with but what I can say is, it was a slow read for me 😪 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’ve read some of the reviews about this book from Goodreads and what I can conclude is that most people really enjoyed it but unfortunately, I can’t say I feel the same. This book is really confusing.🤔 It’s a struggle for me to finish the whole book and find what I enjoyed about it – it took me almost 2 weeks. 😩 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It had no conclusion! No ending! I’m not sure what exactly the main issues the author tries to tackle in this book – is it about sexual assault in a Muslim community or about fallen for someone who is not Muslim? 🧐 I’m so CONFUSED because both situations ended up with a big mess of cliff-hanger ending and zero solution. 🤯 _ #RamadhanReadathon #SaintsAndMisfits #SKAli #DiverseBooks #bookishfeatures #bookstagram #muslimshelfspace

[yalibooks]

Illustrator Debasmita Dasgupta spoke to author-illustrator Elizabeth Dulemba (@dulembadraws) about creating the art for MINA VS. THE MONSOON. Her answers will make you smile☺️ Here is one we absolutely ❤️- . . e: Is there a unique or funny story behind the creation of Mina Vs. The Monsoon? Debasmita: So I have this habit of talking to my characters when I am illustrating them :) I spend hours in my home studio, alone, illustrating stories. When my characters cry and smile, I do the same. During the making of Mina, a friend of mine was visiting me in Singapore and one morning she found me talking to Mina and thought I am completely crazy. Ha ha…it took me a while to explain her I am not. . . Read the full interview here - https://bit.ly/2Ro3nQ6 . . . #kidlitwomen #womenwhodraw #illustrator #kidlitart #kidlitillustration #kidlit #kidlitillustrator #childrensbookillustration #childrensbookart #picturebookart #picturebookillustration #picturebook #diversebooks #ownvoices #muslimshelfspace #kidlitartist #weneeddiversebooks #readyourworld https://www.instagram.com/p/BtOMeXRnw2w/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=b0wczpbq42x6