The Library Bus

By Bahram Rahman
Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

Winner of the Middle East Book Award and the Northern Lights Book Award

Finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Florida Literacy Association Children’s Book Award, the OLA Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award

South Asian Book Awards Highly Commended Books pick

RISE: A Feminist Project selection

Starred School Library Journal review

This fictionalized story has historical grounding in the childhoods of the author and his mother in Afghanistan that is explained in an author’s note.

Bahram Rahman’s mother was the first girl in her village to get an education; she became a teacher. When the Taliban first took over in 1996, Bahram vividly remembers the day his mother had to hide her teacher’s uniform, and the day his three sisters had to burn their books when the family was turned out of their home. Bahram threw away his own books too, not understanding that he would have been allowed to keep them.

#OwnVoices story