The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue

A Syrian American teenager uses art to navigate Islamophobia and grief in this searing speculative novel by Katouh (As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow). “All the color has disappeared” from 17-year-old artist Jihad’s world following her mother’s sudden death more than a year ago. After her withdrawn father transfers Jihad from her Queens public school to Braxton Academy, she reluctantly attends, calculating that the school’s pedigree could bolster her chances of gaining entrance to her dream art school. At Braxton, she reunites with childhood friend Alexis, who initially welcomes Jihad into her social circle, until verbal bullying from Alexis’s friends escalates to physical harm. Threaded throughout realistic conflict is Jihad’s reckoning with feelings of disconnect from generational magic passed down through her maternal line, which allows her to see colors that reveal a person’s essence. When she begins sketching in a notebook discovered inside a family heirloom vanity, her drawings manifest as murals across the city, forcing Jihad to confront her tangled emotions on a grand scale. Unflinching text depicts systemic failures that leave Muslim American teens vulnerable to physical and emotional violence as well as institutional neglect, and magical elements lend moments of wonder to the novel’s weighty messaging. It’s a powerful exploration of injustice, identity, and the radical act of making oneself feel seen. Ages 12–up. Agent: Alexandra Levick, Writers House. (June)