CHICAGO: From award-winning Palestinian writer and academic Sonia Nimr comes “Thunderbird,” the first book in a middle-grade trilogy that pulls readers into Palestine’s past, present and future to stop the end of the world. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle At the heart of the story, translated from Arabic into English by the founding editor of Arab Lit, M. Lynx Qualey, is Noor, an orphaned teenager whose world has been turned upside down with the loss of her parents. Moving from a normal existence into one which brings with it magic and mythical creatures, Noor must balance her tragic reality with fantasy, where she faces a magical phoenix to prevent the end of mankind. Noor’s future is bleak as she sits in her uncle’s home with only a grandmother to love her. Treated like a pariah by her aunt, Widad, and cousin, Wafaa, Noor’s overwhelming sadness begins to shape her life in ways she does not understand. Inexplicable fires ignite whenever she is around, for which she is blamed, causing more tension in the house. On top of that, since the death of her parents, their academic and anthropological work begins to haunt her through a ring her father left her, and her mother’s research files. As Noor struggles to find her place in the world, she is pulled to the brink of her emotions. She does not understand who she is and the fate she now faces. But when she visits her aunt in Jericho, she befriends a cat who turns out to be a djinn, and finds peace in the company of her father’s best friend, Dr Samir. Learning more about her parents’ lives, of the research they were doing on the ancient Philistines and a mythical cryptid, Noor is forced to accept that the future is in her hands. Nimr’s epic adventure takes readers from heartbreak into a fantastical world where the courage of a young girl is tested and pushed to the edge. Quickly, the story, steeped in magical realism, fades into fantasy, from the real-life occupation of Palestine to the tragedy of an orphan who is tasked with saving the world. Skillfully rooted in history, geography, spirituality and adventure, Nimr’s narrative travels at magnificent speed into a journey that grows more curious with every page.