This page is a list of books with West Asian protagonists and/or written by West Asian authors. West Asia includes: Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey (and more, these are just the countries I have books for). Each category is split into age range and genre.
A table of contents can be found below. If you would like to submit a book to add a book to this list, please see the form in the original post.
CORRECTION FORM
I haven’t read a lot of these books, so some of the listed representation may be wrong or vague. Please submit any corrections to these books! Note that: New submissions should be submitted in the form in the original post, not this one. You can also contact me by email here.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Iran
- contemporary / historical
- fantasy
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Syria
- Turkey
Iran
CONTEMPORARY / HISTORICAL
| book | information |
|---|---|
| If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan | rep: ownvoices lesbian Iranian protagonist genre: contemporary setting: Iran |
| Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan | rep: ownvoices lesbian Iranian-American protagonist genre: contemporary setting: U.S. |
| Here to Stay by Sara Farizan | rep: biracial (ownvoices Iranian, Jordanian) protagonist genre: contemporary setting: U.S. |
| Darius the Great duology by Adib Khorram | rep: ownvoices gay biracial (Iranian, white) protagonist, gay love interest genre: contemporary setting: U.S., Iran |
| The Authentics by Abdi Nazemian | rep: ownvoices Iranian-American protagonist genre: contemporary setting: U.S. |
| A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi | rep: ownvoices Iranian-American protagonist genre: historical setting: U.S. |
| Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian | rep: ownvoices gay Iranian-American protagonist genre: historical setting: U.S. |
FANTASY / SCIENCE FICTION
| book | information |
|---|---|
| Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust (out July 7, 2020) | rep: ownvoices Persian-inspired; ownvoices bisexual protagonist, wlw love interest genre: fantasy |
| Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi | rep: Japanese-American main character; Iranian-American author genre: science fiction |
Iraq
| book | information |
|---|---|
| Not the Girls You’re Looking For by Aminah Mae Safi | rep: biracial (Iraqi, white) protagonist genre: contemporary setting: U.S. |
Jordan
| book | information |
|---|---|
| Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga | rep: biracial (Jordanian, white) protagonist genre: contemporary setting: U.S. |
Syria
| book | information |
|---|---|
| Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga | rep: Syrian protagonist, Syrian-American side character, Korean side character, Chinese side character, Somali side character, Lebanese-American side character genre: contemporary setting: U.S. |
Turkey
| book | information |
|---|---|
| My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga | rep: Turkish-American protagonist genre: contemporary setting: U.S. cw: suicide |
magical reads 