Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
This is a beautiful new middle grade novel-in-verse about a 7th-grade Syrian American boy, Kareem, who dreams of joining the school football team. However, the coach’s son, who is also a football player, bullies him. Meanwhile, Kareem’s grandfather is sick in Syria, and his mom leaves to help them travel to the U.S., where he can receive medical care. But it’s 2016, and soon after she leaves, then President Trump enacts the Muslim ban, and neither Kareem’s mom nor her parents can return. This is such a moving book.
