About The Book

“A major writer of our time.” —Alice Walker

The 20th anniversary edition of one of the biggest contributions to anglophone Palestinian literature, with over a million copies sold worldwide, featuring a new introduction from Maaza Mengiste.

Mornings in Jenin tells the unforgettable story of Amal, one of three Palestinian siblings, born in the Jenin refugee camp to parents displaced from their ancestral village in 1948 by the newly formed Jewish state.

Amal grows up in the shadow of a family and community shattered by loss—of home, country, heritage. Her brother Ismael, is stolen as an infant and raised as an Israeli soldier named David. Her older, beloved brother Yousef is transformed from professor to prisoner to fighter. Through war, occupation, and exile, over the course of six decades, three continents, and four generations, Amal emerges as the family's heart—a girl who was read poetry by her father read poetry at dawn, a woman who finds love only to lose it in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, and a mother raising her daughter Sara alone in America while carrying the weight of a homeland she can not reclaim.

When her brother David finally appears, searching for his origins, the three siblings' fractured lives converge in a powerful reckoning with identity, belonging, and the brutal price of a colonial injustice that has defined them all.

About The Author

Photograph by T. Sauppe

susan abulhawa is a Palestinian American writer and activist. She is the author of the international bestseller, Mornings in Jenin, The Blue Between Sky and Water, and Against the Loveless World, winner of the Arab American Book Award, The Palestine Book Award, and finalist for an Aspen Words Prize. Born to refugees of the Six Day War of 1967, abulhawa moved to the United States as a teenager, graduated in biomedical science, and established a career in medical science. In July 2001, she founded Playgrounds for Palestine, a non-governmental children's organization dedicated to upholding the Right to Play for Palestinian children.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Washington Square Press (September 29, 2026)
  • Length: 352 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781668242087

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