Celebrate Arab Heritage Month with the Stump Library! These are just a few of the amazing books we have available.
Looking for more? Just ask - and check out this page for resources, organizations, and more!
The Arab Contribution to Islamic Art: From the Seventh to the Fifteenth Centuries by Wijdan Ali: Explore historical Arab art and culture and its ties to Islamic art.
How to Read Islamic Calligraphy by Maryam Ekhtiar: Explore the beauty and creativity of the written word throughout the Islamic world in this book, filled with full-color photos.
The Art of the Qur'an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art by Massumeh Farhad and Simon Rettig: Explore the art of the Qur'an, from the seventh century onward.
Mosques: Splendors of Islam by Leyla Uluhanli, Renata Holod, and Prince Amin Aga Khan, et al: Delve into the art and architecture of mosques with these full-color photos and essays celebrating mosques across the world, from the ancient to the modern.
Concerto Al-Quds by Adonis & translated by Khaled Mattawa: Syrian poet Adonis explores Al-Quds (Jerusalem) in this work, translated by Libyan poet Khaled Mattawa.
Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali: Jenna, a misfit and the daughter of the only divorced mother at the mosque, must deal not only with her father's new wife and her crush Jeremy but also with someone others think is a saint...but isn't. Saints and Misfits was, among other honors, on the 2018 Amelia Bloomer List Top Ten and a 2018 Morris Award finalist.
A Lover from Palestine and Other Poems: An Anthology of Palestinian Poetry edited by Abdul Wahab Al Messiri: This bilingual book of poetry includes works by Mahmoud Darweesh, Sameeh al-Qassem, Tawfic Zayad, Rashid Hussein, Salem Jubran, Fadwa Tuqan, Mueen Bessissou, and Abdel-Kareem al-Sabaawi.
Salt Houses by Hala Alyan: This novel of home and displacement won the 2018 Arab American Book Award in fiction!
In Jerusalem and Other Poems by Tamīm Barghūthī: This collection of al-Barghūthī's poetry includes the lengthy work "Jerusalem" and was translated by Radwa Ashur.
The Treasure of Maria Mamoun by Michelle Chalfoun: When 12-year-old Maria moves from the Bronx to Martha's Vinyard, where her nurse mother has taken a job on an estate, she stumbles into a hunt for buried treasure. This won the 2017 Arab American Book Award for Children/Young Adult!
The Butterfly's Burden by Maḥmūd Darwīsh and translated by Fady Joudah: This bilingual edition presents works from The Stranger's Bed, A State of Siege, and Don't Apologize for What You've Done.
Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems by Maḥmūd Darwīsh and selected and translated by Munīr ʻAkash and Carolyn Forché: This collection of poetry spans four decades of Maḥmūd Darwīsh's long and storied career.
The Broken Wings by Kahlil Gibran: The story of youthful, doomed love.
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran: This lyrical collection of prose poems is one of the world's beloved texts, and has been in print ever since its original publication!
Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance by Fady Joudah: Explore love and humanity with these poems by poet and doctor Joudah.
The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar: This intertwined tale of two Syrian girls traveling the same route centuries apart won the 2018 Middle Eastern Book Award.
The Arabian Nights translated by Husain Haddawy and Muhsin Mahdi: You know stories taken from the Arabian Nights - now, read the original, here translated into English by Husain Haddawy and Muhsin Mahdi!
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram: Darius's life changes when he travels to Iran to visit his grandparents in this novel, which won the 2019 Morris Award and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literture's 2019 Young Adult Literature Award, among other honors.
Children of Gebelawi by Najīb Maḥfūẓ: In this novel by the Egyptian Nobel laureate Maḥfūẓ, a series of strongmen hold sway over an alley and a series of heroes stand against them, over and over through the generations.
Midaq Alley by Najīb Maḥfūẓ: Explore Cairo in the 1940s in this novel by Nobel laureate Maḥfūẓ!
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: The young daughter of Marxist intellectuals comes of age during the Iranian Revolution in this award-winning autobiographical novel by Marjane Satrapi.
Desert Tracings: Six Classic Arabian Odes selected and translated by Michael A. Sells: Visit the poetic past with these odes from 622CE and before.
Tahrir Suite: Poems by Matthew Shenoda: Explore homeland, immigration, and diaspora in this work, which won the 2015 Arab American Book Award's George Ellenbogen Poetry Award!
Baghdad: The City in Verse edited and translated by Reuven Snir: Delve into more than 1,000 years of Baghdad's story (and history) through these poems, many of them appearing for the first time in English.
Azazeel by Yūsuf Zaydān and translated by Jonathan Wright: Tumble through good and evil in this novel of the early Coptic church, which won the International Prize for Arabic Literature for fiction in 2009.
The Pianist from Syria: A Memoir by Aeham Ahmad: Aeham Ahmad, the son of Palestinian refugees, tells the story of his early life in Syria and his life as a second-generation refugee - this time in Germany.
Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine by Ibtisam Barakat: A young girl who dreams of becoming a writer comes of age in Palestine in this memoir spanning 1972-1981. Balcony on the Moon was, among other honors, on the 2017 Amelia Bloomer List Top 10, was shortlisted for the Palestinian Book Award in 2017.
Native: Dispatches from an Israeli-Palestinian Life by Sayed Kashua: Explore life in an everyday Israeli Palestinian family in these interrelated essays. Kashua has taught at both the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
A Child in Palestine: The Cartoons of Naji al-Ali by Naji al-Ali with an introduction by Joe Sacco: Explore the political cartoons of Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali.
Seeking Palestine: New Palestinian Writing on Exile and Home edited by Penny Johnson and Raja Shehadeh: Delve into home and exile in this compilation of essays by Palestinian writers.
Orientalism by Edward W. Said: Read Said's groundbreaking, and now classic, exploration of Orientalism.
Picture Books & Easy Readers
My Beautiful Birds written and illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo: Sami had to leave his pet pigeons behind when his family fled Syria, and he misses them so much that he can't bring himself to play with the other kids at the refugee camp. But then one day three birds fly into camp.... This picture book won the 2017 Honorable Mention for the Middle East Book Award's picture book award, among other honors.
Yo Soy Muslim: A Father's Letter to His Daughter by Mark Gonzales and illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini: Celebrate multiculturalism and heritage in this picture book, written as a letter from father to daughter.
Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets: A Muslim Book of Shapes by Hena Khan and illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini: Follow a young Muslim girl through the traditions and shapes of her faith in this picture book, which won the 2018 Honorable Mention for the Middle East Book Award's picture book award.
Lost and Found Cat: The True Story of Kunkush's Incredible Journey by Doug Kuntz and Amy Shrodes, and illustrated by Sue Conelison: This picture book telling the true story of the cat Kunkush, who escaped Iraq with his family only to become lost in Greece - and then make his way back to his family again! - was the Middle East Book Award's 2017 award winner for picture books, among other honors. Kunkush's family worked with the authors on this book.