GIRLS of the CRESCENT – TWO SISTERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Girls of the Crescent is verb and a noun.  As a noun Girls of the Crescent website is a resource for readers – also teachers, librarians, and parents – looking for a good book that accurately features Muslim teens, especially girls .  As a verb, Girls of the Crescent is a non-profit organization that works to seek donations to buy books to give to libraries.

When sisters Mena and Zena Nasiri, both avid teen readers, noticed how few YA books feature Muslim females like themselves, they decided to do something. They founded Girls of the Crescent, with the “mission of collecting and distributing books that spotlight strong Muslim heroines to schools and libraries.” Like the heroines in these books, Mena and Zena have persisted and have made over 200 book donations to each of the 21 school libraries in their district.  That’s not all.  They have also donated 100 books to various public libraries and to school libraries in other districts, in addition to encouraging librarians to purchase recommended titles.

Take a look at the Girls of the Crescent website and you will find an excellent selection, author lists, and current reviews.  Meanwhile, several books recently reviewed and recommended here on The Pirate Tree are The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani, a novel for older middle grade readers that is based on the story of Veera’s father’s family.

A very different and unique English-Arabic, bi-lingual picture book is The Silent Nightingale by Saudi Arabian-born author Lamis S. Solaim. This unusual book describes a story within a story when a large Middle Eastern family is visiting their grandparents’ home.

One more suggestion is the Middle Grade Graphic Novel, Escape from Syria, written by Samya Kullab and illustrated by Jackie Roch, already a Canadian award-winning graphic novel set in Syria.

Many powerful and wonderful books to explore, take a look at the list – Girls of the Crescent. Consider supporting the work of two girls who already have made a difference.

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