Africa
Ghana
Mussi, Sarah.The Door Of No Return. 2007. (YA Fiction Mussi.S)
Sixteen-year-old Zac never believed his grandfather's tales about their
enslaved ancestors being descended from an African king, but when his
grandfather is murdered and the villains come after Zac, he sets out for Ghana
to find King Baktu's long-lost treasure before the murderers do.
Ivory Coast
Abouye, Marguerite. Aya. 2007. (YA 741.5966 Aboue.M)
Nineteen-year-old Aya, her easygoing friends Adjoua and Bintou, and their
meddling relatives and neighbors star in this breezy and wryly funny story of
the simple pleasures and private troubles of everyday life in Yopougon, a.k.a.
Yop City. Full color. Young adult.
Kenya
Naidoo, Beverley. Burn My Heart. 2009. (YA Fiction Naido.B)
Matthew and Mungo, boys with a different skin color and culture, have a
friendship that is tested during the Mau Mau bid for national independence.
Malawi
Kamkwamba, William. The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind : Creating Currents Of
Electricity And Hope. 2009. (B Kamkw.W Kamkw.W)
An enterprising teenager in Malawi builds a windmill from scraps he finds
around his village and brings electricity, and a future, to his family in this
inspiring true story.
Mozambique
Mankell, Henning. Secrets In The Fire. 2003. (YA Fiction Manke.H)
Sofia, who lives in war torn Mozambique, must build a new life after she is
injured by a land mine. (First book of a series)
Nigeria
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1994. (YA Fiction Acheb.C)
This classic story traces the growing friction between village leaders and
Europeans in an African village.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Purple Hibiscus : A Novel. 2003. (YA Fiction Adich.C & Fiction
Adich.C)
Fifteen-year-old Kambili Achike, a Nigerian girl, grows up privileged with her
brother, quiet mother, and wealthy father who is a businessman and publishes
a politically outspoken newspaper. Though outwardly a pious and faithful
Catholic man and highly respected community figure, behind closed doors he
regularly and viciously beats his family. When Kambili and her brother pay an
unexpected visit to their liberated and loving Aunty Ifeoma, a university professor, family
secrets slowly surface setting into motion a chain of events that forever change Kambili
and her family.
Rwanda
Combres, Elizabeth. Broken Memory : A Novel Of Rwanda. 2009. (YA Fiction
Combr.E)
Emma's mother was murdered during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, and
Emma, a Tutsi, overheard the horrific event. She is now living with a Hutu
woman her took her in at great risk. Through this relationship and several
other friendships, Emma begins the long process of healing.
Jansen, Hanna. Over A Thousand Hills I Walk With You. 2006. (YA Fiction Janse.H)
Jeanne is the only member of her family to survive the Rwandan genocide of 1994,
having witnessed the murder of her mother and brother. She is adopted by a German
family, and her adoptive mother tells this story based on Jeanne's memories of her
childhood, evoking a vivid sense of place.
Sierra Leone
Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone : Memoirs Of A Boy Soldier. 2007. (YA 966.404
Beah.I & 966.404 Beah.I)
Southern Africa
Courtenay, Bryce. The Power Of One. 2005. (YA Fiction Court.B)
Follows Peekay, a white British boy in South Africa during World War II,
between the ages of five and eleven, as he survives an abusive boarding school
and goes on to succeed in life and the boxing ring, with help from a chicken, a
boxer, a pianist, black African prisoners, and many others.
Paton, Alan. Cry, The Beloved Country. 2003. (YA Fiction Paton.A & Paperbk
Fiction Paton.A)
Craig, Colleen. Afrika. 2008. (YA Fiction Craig.C)
For thirteen-year-old Kim, travel to South Africa with her jhournalist mom
marks the end of her childhood and the beginning of a remarkable journey.
While there, the Truth and Reconciliation Hearings open her eye to the segregationist
policies of South Africa and teach her about the country's often brutal and shocking
history. While her mother struggles with her past, Kim becomes doggedly determined to
end the secrecy that surrounds her birth. Layered and complex, "Afrika" raises questions,
challenges beliefs, and paints a vivid portrait of a remarkable country.
Stratton, Allan. Chanda's Secrets. 2004. (YA Fiction Strat.A)
A girl living in a small town in Southern Africa deals with HIV and AIDS.
When her youngest sister dies, the first hint of HIV/AIDS emerges, and
Chanda must confront undercurrents of shame and stigma.
Stratton, Allan. Chanda's Wars. 2008. (YA Fiction Strat.A)
Chanda Kabelo, a teenaged African girl, must save her younger siblings after
they are kidnapped and forced to serve as child soldiers in General Mandiki's
rebel army.
Sunga, Paul S.. Red Dust, Red Sky. 2008. (YA Fiction Sunga.P)
The story of a young Southeast Asian girl's life with her eccentric "blended"
family in Lesotho, and her search for the truth about her absent father, is a
parable for the country's own quest for freedom and maturity.
Williams, Michael. Now Is The Time For Running. 2011. (YA Fiction Willi.M)
When soldiers attack a small village in Zimbabwe, Deo goes on the run with
Innocent, his older, mentally disabled brother, carrying little but a leather soccer ball
filled with money, and after facing prejudice, poverty, and tragedy, it is in soccer
that Deo finds renewed hope.
Sudan
Eggers, Dave. What Is The What : The Autobiography Of Valentino Achak Deng : A Novel.
2007. (Paperbk Best Seller Egger.D)
Based closely on true experiences of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who fled their
war-ravaged country to come to the United States in the mid-1980s, this novel
is heartbreaking and arresting, filled with adventure, suspense, tragedy, and,
finally, triumph.
Walzer, Craig. Out Of Exile : The Abducted And Displaced People Of Sudan. 2008. (YA
962.7043 Out)
"Refugees and abductees recount their escapes from the wars in Darfur and
South Sudan and describe life in the major stations on the 'refugee railroads'"
Zambia
Fuller, Alexandra. Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight : An African Childhood. 2001.
(Paperbk Non- Fiction Fulle.A)
In "Don t Let s Go to the Dogs Tonight," Alexandra Fuller remembers her
African childhood with candor and sensitivity. Though it is a diary of an unruly
life in an often inhospitable place, it is suffused with Fuller s endearing ability
to find laughter, even when there is little to celebrate. Fuller s debut is
unsentimental and unflinching but always captivating. In wry and sometimes
hilarious prose, she stares down disaster and looks back with rage and love at the life of
an extraordinary family in an extraordinary time.
Asia
China
Chen, Da. Sword : A Novel. 2008. (YA Fiction Chen.D)
When Miu Miu turns fifteen, she learns the truth about her father's violent
death and discovers that she must avenge his murder before she can marry the
man to whom she is betrothed. Based on a story told to the author by a former
prisoner during China's Cultural Revolution.
Chen, Da. Wandering Warrior. 2003. (YA Fiction Chen.D)
Eleven-year-old Luka, destined to become the future emperor of China, is trained in the
ways of the kung fu wandering warriors by the wise monk Atami.
Compestine, Ying Chang.Revolution Is Not A Dinner Party : A Novel. 2007. (YA Fiction
Compe.Y)
Starting in 1972 when she is nine years old, Ling, the daughter of two doctors,
struggles to make sense of the communists' Cultural Revolution, which empties
stores of food, homes of appliances deemed "bourgeois," and people of
laughter.
Jiang, Ji-li. Red Scarf Girl. 1997. (YA 951.056 Jiang.J)
An outstanding student and much admired leader of her class, Ji-Li Jiang was
poised for a shining future in the Communist party until the Cultural
Revolution of 1966. Told with simplicity, innocence and grace, this
unforgettable memoir gives a child's eye view of a terrifying time in 20thcentury history--and of one family's indomitable courage under fire.
See, Lisa. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. 2005. (YA Fiction See.L & Fiction See.L)
In nineteenth century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at
the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, or "old same," in an emotional
match that will last a lifetime. The two women exchange messages written on
silk fans and handkerchieves using nu shu, a unique language that women
created in order to communicate in secret, sharing their experiences, but when a
misunderstanding arises, their friendship threatens to tear apart.
India
McCormick, Patricia. Sold. 2006. (YA Fiction Mccor.P)
Thirteen-year-old Lakshmi, though poor, enjoys her life until the Himalayan
monsoons wash away her family's crops and she is sold to a brothel in India by
her stepfather. She remembers her mother's wisdom, "Simply to endure is to
triumph," until the day comes that she can reclaim her life.
Perkins, Mitali. Secret Keeper. 2009. (YA Fiction Perki.M)
In 1974 when her father leaves New Delhi, India, to seek a job in New York,
Ashi, a tomboy at the advanced age of sixteen, feels thwarted in the home of
her extended family in Calcutta where she, her mother, and sister must stay,
and when her father dies before he can send for them, they must remain with
their relatives and observe the old-fashioned traditions that Ashi hates.
Sheth, Kashmira. Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet. 2006. (YA Fiction Sheth.K)
Growing up with her family in Mumbai, India, sixteen-year-old Jeeta disagrees
with much of her mother's traditional advice about how to live her life and tries
to be more modern and independent.
Venkatraman, Padma. Climbing The Stairs. 2008. (YA Fiction Venka.P)
In India, in 1941, when her father becomes brain-damaged in a non-violent
protest march, fifteen-year-old Vidya and her family are forced to move in with
her father's extended family and become accustomed to a totally different way
of life.
Japan
Gratz, Alan. Samurai Shortstop. 2006. (YA Fiction Gratz.A)
While obtaining a Western education at a prestigious Japanese boarding school
in 1890, sixteen-year-old Toyo also receives traditional samurai training which
has profound effects on both his baseball game and his relationship with his
father.
Hamamura, John. Color Of The Sea. 2006. (YA Fiction Hanam.J)
Say, Allen. The Ink-keeper's Apprentice. 2006. (YA Fiction Say.A)
A fourteen-year-old boy lives on his own in Tokyo and becomes apprenticed
to a famous Japanese cartoonist.
Whitesel, Cheryl Aylward. Blue Fingers : A Ninja's Tale. 2004. (YA Fiction White.C)
Having failed apprenticeship as a dye maker, Koji is captured and forced to
train as a ninja, where he remains disloyal until he discovers samurai have
burned his former village
Tsukiyama, Gail. The Street Of A Thousand Blossoms. 2008. (YA Fiction Tsuki.G & Paperbk
Best Seller Tsuki.G)
Korea
Park, Linda Sue. When My Name Was Keoko. 2002. (YA Fiction Park.L)
With national pride and occasional fear, a brother and sister face the
increasingly oppressive occupation of Korea by Japan during World War II,
which threatens to suppress Korean culture entirely.
Pakistan
Qamar, Amjed. Beneath My Mother's Feet. 2008. (YA Fiction Qamar.A)
When her father is injured, fourteen-year-old Nazia is pulled away from
school, her friends, and her preparations for an arranged marriage, to help her
mother clean houses in a wealthy part of Karachi, Pakistan, where she finally
rebels against the destiny that is planned for her.
Tibet
Whitesel, Cheryl Aylward. Rebel : A Tibetan Odyssey. 2000. (YA Fiction White.C)
Although he rebels against life in the Tibetan Buddhist monastery where he
had been sent, fourteen-year-old Thunder comes to some amazing realizations
about himself.
Latin America
Bolivia
Ellis, Deborah. I Am A Taxi : The Cocalero Novels. 2006. (YA Fiction Ellis.D)
When his parents end up in jail after being falsely accused of drug smuggling,
Diego adjusts to a life of incarceration and limited freedom.
Ellis, Deborah. Sacred Leaf. 2007. (YA Fiction Ellis.D)
Diego escapes from slavery at an illegal cocaine operation and is taken in by
the Ricardos, coca farmers.
Brazil
Holtwijk, Ineke. Asphalt Angels. 1999. (YA Fiction Holtw.I)
Abandoned on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, thirteen-year-old Alex joins a
group of children like him and finds himself adapting to his new life.
Peet, Mal. Keeper. 2003. (YA Fiction Peet.M)
In an interview with a young journalist, World Cup hero, El Gato, describes
his youth in the Brazilian rain forest and the events, experiences, and people
that helped make him a great goalkeeper and renowned soccer star.
Guatemala
Cameron, Ann. Colibrí. 2003. (YA Fiction Camer.A)
Kidnapped when she was very young by an unscrupulous man who has forced
her to lie and beg to get money, a twelve-year-old Mayan girl endures an
abusive life, always wishing she could return to the parents she can hardly
remember.
Pellegrino, Marge. Journey Of Dreams. 2009. (YA Fiction Pelle.M)
When their village is destroyed in the Guatemalan Civil War, Tomasa and her
family, except her mother and brother, who have been taken by the authorities,
begin the long trek north in search of somewhere they will be safe.
Middle East
Afghanistan
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. 2003. (YA Fiction Hosse.K & YA Fiction
Hosse.K)
In Kabul in the mid-1970s. Amir is the son of a wealthy man, but his best
friend is Hassan, the son of one of his father's servants. His father encourages
the friendship and dotes on Hassan, who worships the ground Amir walks on.
But Amir is envious of Hassan and his own father's apparent affection for the
boy and after a series of events, he horribly betrays his best friend. Years later Amir has
an opportunity to make amends for his treatment of Hassan. For mature readers.
Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Under The Persimmon Tree. 2005. (YA Fiction Stapl.S)
During the 2001 Afghan War, the lives of Najmal, a young refugee from
Kunduz, Afghanistan, and Nusrat, an American-Muslim teacher who is
awaiting her huband's return from Mazar-i-Sharif, intersect at a school in
Peshawar, Pakistan.
Iran
Hakakian, Roya. Journey From The Land Of No : A Girlhood Caught In
Revolutionary Iran. 2004. (B Hakak.R Hakak.R)
Hakakian captures her childhood growing up in the second largest Jewish
community in the Middle East, in Tehran, during the takeover of the Ayatollah
Khomeini. She paints pictures of a changing Iran, from a land that was
immersed in the poetry of life and discovery to one that spoke of militaristic
prayer and repression, where Jewish people were once again subject to antiSemitism and where women were stripped of many of their rights.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. 2003. (YA B Satra.M Satra.M)
Persepolis is a wise, funny, and heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran
during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip
images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen,
years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic
Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq.
Sayres, Meghan Nuttall. Anahita's Woven Riddle. 2006. (YA Fiction Sayre.M)
In Iran, more than 100 years ago, a young girl with three suitors gets
permission from her father and a holy man to weave into her wedding rug a
riddle to be solved by her future husband, which will ensure that he has wit to
match hers.
Zangenah, Lila Azam. My Sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes : Uncensored
Iranian Voices. 2006. (305.40955 My)
Centering on questions of identity and subjectivity in and outside Iran's Islamic
Republic, the 15 prominent indigenous and ex-pat voices showcased in this
collection include bestselling authors Azar Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran),
Azadeh Moaveni (Lipstick Jihad) and Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis), as well as
renowned filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, Oscar-nominated actress Shoreh Aghdashloo
(House of Sand and Fog) and acclaimed visual artist Shirin Neshat.
Palestine
Baraket, Ibtisam. Tasting The Sky : A Palestinian Childhood. 2007. (YA 956.94053
Barak.I)
In a powerfully written memoir, Barakat captures what it is like to be a child
whose world is shattered by war.
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