We Are Big Time by Hana Khan

 

This graphic novel opens with a family moving from Florida to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Moving is always hard on kids, and Aliya is not happy to be leaving behind the basketball team she loves and starting high school in a new city. She attends Peace Academy, a Muslim high school with a historically terrible basketball team. We Are Big Time follows Aliya's basketball team through their losing season, which is full of disappointments, improvements, and surprises. This book checks a lot of boxes in the world of what middle schoolers want to read. It's a graphic novel, it deals with sports, and has ninth grade characters, and it has great cultural representation, which is essential for Muslim and non-Muslim students alike. Recommended for all middle school libraries.

From Here by Luma Mufleh

 

Luma Mufleh grew up in Aman, Jordan as the child of Syrian refugees. She was part of a large, close family with strong ties to each other, but she always knew she was different. As a student in an American high school in Jordan in the 1990s, she realized that she was gay and that there was no place for her in Jordan. In fact, she could be killed if her sexuality were to be discovered. She thought that going to college in the United States could be a way out for her, but did not want her identity to separate her from her beloved family. This memoir is illuminating on many levels--life in Jordan, Muslim family dynamics, the American immigrant experience, and having the courage to become your true self. These themes will resonate with high school students but also with adults. Luma has had a long journey becoming a US Citizen and creating schools and soccer teams for refugee children, and her story is powerful and empowering. Recommended for high school and adult readers. 

This Book Won't Burn by Samira Ahmed

 

Noor Khan is reeling from her father's desertion of her family and her mother's sudden move from Chicago to a small town in Illinois. Noor has one semester left of high school, and she intends to lay low and focus on graduating and getting into college. She and her sister find themselves in a conservative community that has very few Black and brown people, and only a handful of Muslim students--so the two new students attract attention at their high school. Noor finds refuge in her school library, only to find out that books are being surreptitiously removed from the shelves. Against her better judgment, Noor decides to fight back against the book censorship that is happening. 

Romantic relationships and book banning and racism all come into play in this excellent YA novel. I will definitely be recommending this to students 8th grade-up. 

Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin's Hijab by Priya Huq

 

Nisrin, an 8th grader who does not usually wear traditional dress from Bangladesh, is the victim of a hate crime while wearing a head scarf. After a summer of therapy, she is ready to start high school, and makes the decision to wear the hijab every day. It is not a decision that is welcomed by her family, but she perseveres and faces discrimination at school and questions at home about her decision. The year is 2002 and she is living in Oregon, and she has a lot to learn about her own family and culture, as well as how to navigate high school as a person who charts her own course. It's an engaging story with a lot to think about and learn about. This graphic novel is highly recommended for middle school libraries.