"Day of Joy is a collection of short stories that showcases the most brilliant Muslim voices writing today, all about the most joyful holiday of the year: Eid! Eid: The short, single-syllable word conjures up a variety of feelings and memories for Muslims. Maybe it's waking up to the sound of frying samosas and simmering pistachio kheer, maybe it's the pleasure of putting on a new outfit for Eid prayers, or maybe it's the gift giving and holiday parties...
Thirteen-year-old Hayaat of Bethlehem faces check points, curfews, and the travel permit system designed to keep people on the West Bank when she attempts to go to her grandmother's ancestral home in Jerusalem with her best friend.
Bana's mother tells her of the strong bana tree that grows in their homeland, Syria, and how Bana's strength helped her survive war, being a refugee, and starting fresh in a new country.
"Loujain watches her beloved baba attach his feather wings and fly each morning, but her own dreams of flying face a big obstacle: only boys, not girls, are allowed to fly in her country. Yet despite the taunts of her classmates, she is determined to do it--especially because Loujain loves colors, and only by flying can she see the color-filled field of sunflowers her baba has told her about. Eventually, he agrees to teach her, and Loujain's impossible...
"A red oak tree and a crow help their human neighbors work out their differences"--
An old red oak tree tells how he and his crow friend, Bongo, help their human neighbors get along after a threat against an immigrant family is carved into the tree's trunk.
In Sydney, Australia, and in Morocco, two boys and their families have a day of shopping. Readers are invited to compare illustrations in two wordless stories that are intended to be read one from left to right and the other from right to left.
Walking to her grandmother's home to help make warak enab, Lina discovers many ways to hear snow, from the scrape of a shovel on a sidewalk to the quiet pats of snowman-building.
In Mauritania, West Africa, an Arab girl who wants to wear a malafa, the veiled dress worn by her mother and older sister, learns that the garment represents beauty, mystery, tradition, belonging, and faith.
Farah and her best friend, Allie Liu, are getting excited to turn in their applications to the Magnet Academy, where they both hope to attend sixth grade. But when new girl Dana Denver shows up, Farah's world is turned upside down. As Dana starts bullying Farah's little brother, Samir, Farah begins to second-guess her choice to leave him behind at Harbortown Elementary/Middle School. Determined to handle it on her own, Farah comes up with a plan-a...
Now that she is ten, Lailah is delighted that she can fast during the month of Ramadan like her family and her friends in Abu Dhabi, but finding a way to explain to her teacher and classmates in Atlanta is a challenge until she gets some good advice from the librarian, Mrs. Scrabble.
Told in two voices, eleven-year-olds Mimi, who is visiting her wealthy grandparents in Karachi, Pakistan, for the first time and Sakina, daughter of the grandparents' cook, form an unexpected friendship.
Tameika is excited to audition for the school's Snow White musical, but when she overhears her classmates say she is too tall, chubby, and brown to play Snow White, she questions whether she is right for the part.
As a young girl observes that each of six women in her life wears her hijab and hair in a different way, she considers how to express her own style one day.
Having to take her younger sister along the first time she is invited to a birthday party spoils Rubina's fun, and later when that sister is asked to a party and baby sister wants to come, Rubina must decide whether to help.
Twelve-year-old Sahara prefers logic and science over magic, but when she travels to Cairo for a family wedding, her resistance to magic fades when she discovers that she is next in a line of women tasked with guarding Ali Baba's treasure.
Sophia wants to fast for Ramadan this year. Her grandma tells her that fasting helps make a person sparkly-and Sophia loves sparkles. But, when her attempt at fasting fails, Sophia must find another way to participate. This lovely multigenerational family story explores the many ways to take part in the Ramadan holiday.
Sameer's neighbors left when war came to Lebanon, but now they have returned and instead of finding a friend to play with, Sameer meets an unfriendly girl, Muna, who confronts him about taking olives that fall from her family's tree to his side of the wall.
"Imaginative Omar goes through the ups and downs of starting a new school and making new friends with the help of his wonderful (and silly) Muslim family"--
