Aya Ghanameh

Aya Ghanameh is a Palestinian illustrator, writer, and designer from Amman, Jordan currently based in New York City. Her work moves away from state-centric ways of thinking to center the voices of ordinary people in historical and political narratives. Her debut children's picture book, THESE OLIVE TREES (Viking Books, 2023), is inspired by the experiences of her family who cultivated her love of the earth throughout her upbringing in exile.
Aya graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Illustration and a minor in Literary Arts & Studies. Previously a Children's Books & Gifts Design Fellow at Chronicle Books, she is now a Designer at Penguin Workshop at Penguin Random House.

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Steve Noon

Steve Noon was born in Kent, UK, and attended art college in Cornwall. He's had a life-long passion for illustration, and since 1985 has worked as a professional artist. He has provided award-winning illustrations for the publishers, Dorling Kindersley, where his interest in historical illustration began. Steve has illustrated over 70 books for Osprey.
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Hannah Moushabeck

Hannah Moushabeck is a second-generation Palestinian American author and book worker who was raised in a family of publishers and booksellers and learned the power of literature at a young age. Hannah has worked in publishing for over a decade at companies such as Chronicle Books, The Quarto Group, and Simon & Schuster. She now runs Interlink Publishing, the only Palestinian-owned publisher in the United States, alongside her family.

Her debut picture book Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine (Chronicle Books) won The New England Book Award and The Arab American Book Award. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts on the homelands of the Pocumtuc and Nipmuc Nations.
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M.O. Yuksel

Of Uzbek heritage, M.O. Yuksel was born in Türkiye, raised in New York, and now lives in New Jersey with her family and two cats. A graduate of Columbia University and Fordham University, she writes books for young readers when she’s not on the soccer field cheering for her kids. She’s on the board of the Muslim Literary Festival, served as a juror for the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, and is a member of the planning committee and a mentor for the Highlights Foundation Muslim Writers Fellowship Program.

M.O. Yuksel is the author of the critically acclaimed picture book, IN MY MOSQUE, illustrated by Hatem Aly (HarperCollins, 2021). In a starred review by School Library Journal, IN MY MOSQUE has been described a
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Mary Williams

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

(1) various
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Cherry Mo

Cherry Mo grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the United States at the age of ten. HOME IN A LUNCHBOX is her debut picture book and was inspired by her first days of school in America. Cherry writes and illustrates stories that she hopes bring young readers a sense of comfort and belonging.

Praises for HOME IN A LUNCHBOX:

Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

July/August 2024 Kids' Indie Next List Pick

"In an exceptional debut, Mo deploys digital illustrations that expertly use selective coloring to depict an experience of finding common ground." — Starred review from Publisher's Weekly

"Inspired by Mo's move from Hong Kong to the United States at the age of 10, this remarkable story about finding comfort in a new home by bringing along fam
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Kaylin Melia George

Kaylin Melia George grew up listening to her mother's bedtime stories about Moloka'i. The planting of these early seeds inspired Kaylin to dedicate her life to storytelling. Kaylin began her professional journey in filmmaking as an internationally award-winning director and screenwriter. Her work has been recognized by the Academy and includes documentaries for some of the most prominent nonprofits in the world. With Aloha Everything, Kaylin found a story close to her heart and celebrates her Native Hawaiian ancestry. This is the story she has always dreamed of telling.
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Jack Wong

Jack Wong (黃雋喬) is the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award-winning author/illustrator of When You Can Swim (Scholastic), as well as the forthcoming picture books The Words We Share (Annick Press, Fall 2023), and All That Grows (Groundwood Books, Spring 2024).

Wong was born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver. In 2010, he left behind a life as a bridge engineer to pursue his Bachelor of Fine Arts at NSCAD University (Kjipuktuk / Halifax, Canada), where he now lives with his wife and two cats and works as a children’s author/illustrator.

A self-declared actual Jack-of-all-trades, he has also tried his hand at bookkeeping, teaching art, managing a psychology research lab, and running his own bicycle repair shop, just to name a few—a real education for
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Mosab Abu Toha

Mosab Abu Toha is the winner of a Palestine Book Award, an American Book Award, Walcott Poetry Prize, and also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry.

He is a Palestinian poet, scholar, and librarian who was born in Gaza and has spent his life there. He is the founder of the Edward Said Library, Gaza’s first English-language library. Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear is his debut book of poems. It won a 2022 Palestine Book Award and was named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry.
In 2019-2020, Abu Toha was a Visiting Poet in the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard University.
Abu Toha is a columnist for Arrowsmith Press, and his writings from Gaza have also appeared in The Nati
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Mohammed El-Kurd

MOHAMMED EL-KURD is an internationally touring and award-winning poet, writer, journalist, and organizer from Jerusalem, occupied Palestine.

In 2021, He was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine.

He is best known for his role as a co-founder of the #SaveSheikhJarrah movement. His work has been featured in numerous international outlets and he has appeared repeatedly as a commentator on major TV networks.

Currently, El-Kurd serves as the first-ever Palestine Correspondent for The Nation. His first published essay in this role, "A Night with Palestine's Defenders of the Mountain," was shortlisted for the 2022 One World Media Print Award.

RIFQA, his debut collection of poetry, was published by Haymarket
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M.O. Yuksel

Of Uzbek heritage, M.O. Yuksel was born in Türkiye, raised in New York, and now lives in New Jersey with her family and two cats. A graduate of Columbia University and Fordham University, she writes books for young readers when she’s not on the soccer field cheering for her kids. She’s on the board of the Muslim Literary Festival, served as a juror for the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, and is a member of the planning committee and a mentor for the Highlights Foundation Muslim Writers Fellowship Program.

M.O. Yuksel is the author of the critically acclaimed picture book, IN MY MOSQUE, illustrated by Hatem Aly (HarperCollins, 2021). In a starred review by School Library Journal, IN MY MOSQUE has been described a
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Bess Kalb

Bess Kalb is an Emmy Award-nominated writer for the Jimmy Kimmel Live! television show and journalist with The New Yorker magazine. She is the author of the best-selling book, Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (As Told to Me) Story, which recounts the life of her grandmother, Bobby Bell.
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Ibtihaj Muhammad

Ibtihaj Muhammad is a fencer and the first Muslim American woman in hijab to compete for the United States in the Olympic Games. She is also the first female Muslim American to medal at the Olympic Games, winning bronze in the women’s saber team event. An activist, speaker, and entrepreneur, Ibtihaj has written a memoir, Proud, and inspired the first hijabi Barbie in her likeness.
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Vashti Harrison

Vashti Harrison, author and illustrator of the bestselling Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, is an artist, author, and filmmaker with a passion for storytelling. She earned her MFA in film and video from California Institute of the Arts, where she snuck into animation and illustration classes to learn from Disney and DreamWorks legends. There she rekindled a love for drawing and painting. Now she uses her love for both film and illustration to craft beautiful stories for children.
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Alice Hemming

Alice Hemming is the author of over fifty books for children, including the bestselling Dark Unicorns series (Scholastic), and picture book, The Leaf Thief with illustrator Nicola Slater (Scholastic 2020), which has sold across the world and been translated into nineteen languages. Alice lives in Hertfordshire, UK with her husband and two children, and works in a writing shed at the top of her garden.
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Hannah Moushabeck

Hannah Moushabeck is a second-generation Palestinian American author and book worker who was raised in a family of publishers and booksellers and learned the power of literature at a young age. Hannah has worked in publishing for over a decade at companies such as Chronicle Books, The Quarto Group, and Simon & Schuster. She now runs Interlink Publishing, the only Palestinian-owned publisher in the United States, alongside her family.

Her debut picture book Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine (Chronicle Books) won The New England Book Award and The Arab American Book Award. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts on the homelands of the Pocumtuc and Nipmuc Nations.
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Anne Laurel Carter

Anne Laurel Carter has been a waitress, baker, store clerk, fruit picker and milked cows. Her all-time favourite job was being a school librarian. She often writes about experiences she, her siblings, her friends, her four children, even complete strangers had, or she imagines they had, and then embellishes. Liberally. She divides her year, writing and teaching, between Toronto and Nova Scotia.
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Jory John

Jory John is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and two-time E.B. White Read-Aloud Honor recipient.

Jory's work includes the #1 New York Times bestselling picture book, The Good Egg, and the #2 New York Times bestselling picture book, The Bad Seed, both illustrated by Pete Oswald. He is also the author of the popular picture books, Penguin Problems and Giraffe Problems, both illustrated by Lane Smith, the award-winning Goodnight Already! series, illustrated by Benji Davies, the New York Times bestselling Terrible Two series, the recent picture books Quit Calling Me a Monster! (with Bob Shea), Can Somebody Please Scratch My Back? (with Liz Climo), and the international bestseller, All my friends are dead, among many other books for both
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Hena Khan

Hena Khan writes books in a multitude of formats, including picture books, middle grade fiction, pick-your-path adventures, and graphic novels. Her stories are often centered around community, friendship, and family, and draw from her own experiences and culture. Hena’s novels include AMINA'S VOICE, MORE TO THE STORY, and DRAWING DEENA. She is the author of the Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream, Zara’s Rules, and Super You! series. Hena’s picture books include GOLDEN DOMES AND SILVER LANTERNS, UNDER MY HIJAB, and IT'S RAMADAN, CURIOUS GEORGE, among others.
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Mahmoud Darwish

محمود درويش
Mahmoud Darwish was a respected Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. In his work, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and exile.

The Lotus Prize (1969; from the Union of Afro-Asian Writers)
Lenin Peace Prize (1983; from the USSR)
The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (1993; from France)
The Lannan Foundation Prize for Cultural Freedom (2001)
Prince Claus Awards (2004)
"Bosnian stećak" (2007)
Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings (2007)
The International Forum for Arabic Poetry prize (2007)

محمود درويش هو شاعرٌ فلسطيني وعضو المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني التابع لمنظمة التحرير الف
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Randa Abdel-Fattah

Randa Abdel-Fattah was born in Sydney in 1979. She is a Muslim of Palestinian and Egyptian heritage. She grew up in Melbourne and attended a Catholic primary school and Islamic secondary college where she obtained an International Baccaularetate. She studied Arts/Law at Melbourne University during which time she was the Media Liaison Officer at the Islamic council of Victoria, a role which afforded her the opportunity to write for newspapers and engage with media institutions about their representation of Muslims and Islam.

During university and her role at the ICV, Randa was a passionate human rights advocate and stood in the 1996 federal election as a member of the Unity Party-Say No To Hanson. Randa has also been deeply interested in inte
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Tomie dePaola

Tomie dePaola (pronounced Tommy da-POW-la) was best known for his books for children.

He had a five-decade writing and illustrating career during which he published more than 270 books, including 26 Fairmount Avenue, Strega Nona, and Meet the Barkers.

Tomie dePaola and his work have been recognized with the Caldecott Honor Award, the Newbery Honor Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the New Hampshire Governor's Arts Award of Living Treasure.
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Lina al-Hathloul

Lina al-Hathloul is the youngest sister of Loujain al-Hathloul, who was imprisoned by the Saudi government for her advocacy of Saudi women's rights. On behalf of Loujain, Lina appears frequently in the media and at international events, and she has spoken to representatives of the US government and the United Nations. A lawyer by training, Lina is based in Brussels, Belgium.
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Mark Karlins

Mark Karlins is the author of six picture books, two books of poetry for adults, and a number of reviews and essays. he also teaches the writing and appreciation of poetry to children and adults. Mark and his wife live in the mountains near Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they savor the sounds of mourning doves, ravens, and coyotes.
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Anne Laurel Carter

Anne Laurel Carter has been a waitress, baker, store clerk, fruit picker and milked cows. Her all-time favourite job was being a school librarian. She often writes about experiences she, her siblings, her friends, her four children, even complete strangers had, or she imagines they had, and then embellishes. Liberally. She divides her year, writing and teaching, between Toronto and Nova Scotia.
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Elizabeth Lilly

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Eliza Hull

Eliza Hull is a writer, audio producer and musician based in Castlemaine, Victoria. She produced the ABC series We’ve Got This: On Parenting with a Disability, an audio series on disability and relationships for Radio National, and And Then Something Changed, a kids TV drama for ABCME about a child’s experience of having a disability. She is the access and inclusion coordinator at Arena Theatre, and a current member of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council.
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