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Arab American Heritage: Recommended Reading
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April is Arab American Heritage Month, and the Popular Reading Display in the Hill Library's Learning Commons celebrates the literature and legacy of Arab Americans. Learn more about Arab American Heritage Month.
Published April 2024
Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir
Author: Lamya H
This memoir follows the life of a young Muslim lesbian navigating the intersectionality of her queerness and religious beliefs as she comes to terms with her sexuality and gender expression, through comparing her experiences to some of the most famous stories in the Quran.
This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey From Refugee to Congresswoman
Author: Ilhan Omar
Summary:
A beacon of positivity in dark times, Congresswoman Omar was only eight when war broke out in Somalia. After four difficult years as a refugee in Kenya, she arrived in Arlington, Virginia determined to find her American dream. She was elected with a record-breaking turnout in Minnesota as the first African refugee and the first Somali-American elected to Congress.
Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America
Author: Laila Lalami
What does it mean to be American? In this illuminating and impassioned book, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Laila Lalami recounts her journey from Moroccan immigrant to U.S. citizen, exploring the topics of American rights, liberties, and protections. Conditional citizens, she argues, are all the people with whom America embraces with one arm and pushes away with the other.
The Magic My Body Becomes: Poems
Author: Jess Rizkallah
Rizkallah’s poetry collection explores the complexities of Arab American life as a young Lebanese woman, navigating the generational divide between her family members, and reclaiming her cultural identity while pushing back against elements of her culture that simultaneously sexualize and shame women.
When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family's Forgotten History
Author: Massoud Hayoun
Eppy Award-winning journalist Massoud Hayoun reclaims a nuanced Arab identity in a time where ethnic identity has been mangled for political ends. Once, Arabness was a mark of cosmopolitanism, of intellectualism, and being “Arab” didn’t necessarily mean you were Muslim. This story of Hayoun’s Jewish Arab family goes back two generations to understand what makes an Arab, what makes a Jew, and how the lines that divide were drawn.
Arab America: Gender, Cultural Politics, and Activism
Author: Nadine Christine Naber
Through a transnational feminist lens, Naber delves into the misunderstood lives of second-generation Arab American youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. Engaged in cultural and political activism post-9/11, they navigate complex identities and challenge Orientalist stereotypes, redefining “Arabness” amidst immigration politics and racial justice movements.
Deluge
Author: Leila Chatti
In her early twenties, Leila Chatti started bleeding and did not stop. Physicians referred to this bleeding as flooding. In the Qur’an, as in the Bible, the Flood was sent as punishment. Born of a Catholic mother and a Muslim father, Leila’s poems in this collection chronicle her journey of illness, womanhood, and faith.
Gaza in crisis: Reflections on Israel's war against the Palestinians
Authors: Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé
Israel's Operation Cast Lead thrust the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip into the center of the debate about the Israel/Palestine conflict. This updated and expanded edition surveys the fallout from Israel's conduct in Gaza, including their latest incursions, and place it in historical context.
Against the Loveless World: A Novel
Author: Susan Abulhawa
Locked away in solitary confinement, Nahr spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows. This powerful novel presents a searing, darkly funny, and wholly unique portrait of a Palestinian woman who refuses to be a victim, fighting for a better life for her family traveling as a refugee as her parents had in the 70s.