The Middle East Book Award

The Middle East Book Award was established in 1999 by the Middle East Outreach Council (MEOC). Its purpose is to recognize books for children and adolescents that contribute to a meaningful understanding of the Middle East.Books for this award are judged on the authenticity of their protrayal of a Middle Eastern subject, as well as on their characterization, plot, and appeal for the intended audience. Awards are announced in November for books published during the period from January of the previous year through September of the current year. Nominations from teachers and librarians, publishers, and the general public are welcome.

Link to the Middle East Book Award website:http://socialscience.tyler.cc.tx.us/mkho/MEOC/middle_east_book_award.htm

This link containes a list of books receiving the award. The list contains book genre and brief description.


Overall the book that we have looked at fit the criteria found on the Award's website. Within our group discussion we noticed a couple things:#1: Award recipients do not have the award seal on the front cover#2: "The Librian of Basra" and "Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq" - are the same story but by different authors; they both received the award. We are wondering why this would happen. Is it because of the different age levels that this books are focused towards? Is it because this is such a prominant topic in this culture?#3: Are any books that receive this award written in Arabic or only in English?**********************Books that we looked at:Habibi - Naomi Shihab Nye (2000 Winner of Middle East Award)The Librarian of Basra - Jeanette Winter (2005 winner)Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq - Mark Alan Stamaty (2005 Winner)The House of Wisdom - Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland (2000 Winner)