In October, Islamic History Month celebrates and shares the rich Muslim heritage and contributions to society with fellow Canadians. This year's theme is Celebrating Muslim Women in the Arts and Sciences.
Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets: A Muslim Book of Shapes by Hena Khan and Mehrdokht A-mini
From a crescent moon to a square garden to an octagonal fountain, this picture book celebrates the shapes and traditions of the Muslim world. Ages 3-5.
The Kindest Red: A Story of Hijab and Friendship by S.A. Ali
It's picture day, and Faizah can't wait to wear her special red dress with matching hair ribbons, passed down from her mother and sister. But when it's time for sibling pictures, Faizah realizes that she and her older sister, Asiya, don't match like her classmates do with their siblings. With help from her classmates inspired by Asiya's hijab, Faizah finds that acts of kindness can come back to you in unexpected ways. Ages 4-8.
Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr: A First Look by Percy Leed
Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr celebrate faith and giving thanks. Readers will learn about these two holidays and how people celebrate them through thoughtful text and critical-thinking questions. Ages 5-8.
Much Ado About Nada: A Novel by Uzma Jalaluddin
While Nada has a good job as an engineer, it's a far cry from realizing the start-up dreams for her tech baby, Ask Apa — the app that launched with a whimper instead of a bang because of a double-crossing business partner. Nothing in her life has turned out how it was supposed to, and Nada feels like a failure. Something needs to change.
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
When fourteen-year-old Lamya H realizes she has a crush on her female teacher, she covers up her attraction. One day in Quran class, she reads a passage about Maryam (Mary) that changes everything: When Maryam learned she was pregnant, she insisted no man had touched her. Could Maryam, uninterested in men, be… like Lamya? From that moment on, Lamya makes sense of her struggles and triumphs by comparing her experiences with some of the most famous stories in the Quran.
The Republic of Arabic Letters: Islam and the European Enlightenment by Alexander Bevilacqua
Alexander Bevilacqua’s rich intellectual history retraces Christian scholars' mental and physical routes to acquire, study, and comprehend Arabic manuscripts. The knowledge they generated was deeply indebted to native Muslim traditions and was instrumental in developing Enlightenment thought.
Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin
An emergency landing finds Anna, Saif, Maryam and her sister’s entire bridal party snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn, where fate has Anna’s actor-crush filming a holiday romance. As Maryam finds the courage to open her heart to Saif, and Anna feels the magic of being snowbound with an unexpected new love, both women soon realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.
Blackwater Falls by Ausma Zehanat Khan
In the Colorado town of Blackwater Falls, the local sheriff is slow to act, and the fates of missing girls are largely ignored. Finally, calls for justice become too loud to ignore when the body of a refugee — the Syrian teenager Razan Elkader — is positioned deliberately in a mosque. Detective Inaya Rahman and Lieutenant Waqas Seif of the Denver Police are recruited to solve Razan’s murder and quickly uncover a link to other missing and murdered girls.
Hope Has Two Daughters by Monia Mazigh and Fred Reed
Unwilling to endure a culture of silence and submission and disowned by her family, Nadia leaves her native Tunisia in 1984 amidst deadly violence, chaos and rioting brought on by rising food costs, eventually emigrating to Canada to begin her life. More than twenty-five years later, Nadia’s daughter Lila reluctantly travels to Tunisia to learn about her mother’s birth country.
