The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue
- Author Zoulfa Katouh
- Narrator Victoria Nassif
- Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date 2 June 2026
- Run Time 11 hours and 45 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: Friendship stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General fiction, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Death and bereavement, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Parents, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Racism.
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What to expect
Bloomsbury presents The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh, read by Victoria Nassif
What if you felt like you'd cried all the colours away? The heart-wrenching new story of friendship, loss and identity from the author of international bestseller As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow.
''Devastating and luminous' Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
'A powerful exploration of injustice, identity, and the radical act of making oneself feel seen' Publishers Weekly (starred review)
'A modern classic about what it means to live, to hope, to despair, and to keep living despite everything.' Ann Liang, author of I Hope This Doesn't Find You
'An incredibly tense, unpredictable read' Booklist (starred review)
Joining an exclusive high school should be a fresh start for Jihad after her mother’s sudden death. But she's the only Muslim student there; her hijab and even her name make her new classmates suspicious.
Only one person treats her with kindness but Jihad can’t help questioning his motives. It’s hard to trust anyone when she meets indifference or hostility all around her. As tension mounts, she finds refuge in an old sketchbook and in the stories her mama used to tell her. She is determined to focus on making it to art school and a brighter future, but as she starts illustrating her mother’s memories, her canvas becomes bigger than she could ever have imagined.
Can Jihad become as resilient as the true meaning of her name, and let the colour back into her life?
'A gorgeous magical story about the power and strength we find in our grief' Huda Fahmy, author of Huda F Are You?
'A powerful, unflinching exploration of Islamophobia, identity, and grief' School Library Journal
An unputdownable story about family, friendship, grief and trust from a masterful writer of the genre.
What if you felt like you'd cried all the colours away? The heart-wrenching new story of friendship, loss and identity from the author of international bestseller As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow.
''Devastating and luminous' Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
'A powerful exploration of injustice, identity, and the radical act of making oneself feel seen' Publishers Weekly (starred review)
'A modern classic about what it means to live, to hope, to despair, and to keep living despite everything.' Ann Liang, author of I Hope This Doesn't Find You
'An incredibly tense, unpredictable read' Booklist (starred review)
Joining an exclusive high school should be a fresh start for Jihad after her mother’s sudden death. But she's the only Muslim student there; her hijab and even her name make her new classmates suspicious.
Only one person treats her with kindness but Jihad can’t help questioning his motives. It’s hard to trust anyone when she meets indifference or hostility all around her. As tension mounts, she finds refuge in an old sketchbook and in the stories her mama used to tell her. She is determined to focus on making it to art school and a brighter future, but as she starts illustrating her mother’s memories, her canvas becomes bigger than she could ever have imagined.
Can Jihad become as resilient as the true meaning of her name, and let the colour back into her life?
'A gorgeous magical story about the power and strength we find in our grief' Huda Fahmy, author of Huda F Are You?
'A powerful, unflinching exploration of Islamophobia, identity, and grief' School Library Journal
An unputdownable story about family, friendship, grief and trust from a masterful writer of the genre.
Critics Review
A searing portrait of a Syrian American teen navigating grief, identity, and systemic injustice in contemporary America ... Magical realism, rooted in a maternal lineage of gifted women, adds lyrical depth without overwhelming the contemporary narrative. Katouh’s prose captures the weight of systemic oppression and the fierce resilience it takes to survive. A powerful, unflinching exploration of Islamophobia, identity, and grief. An essential purchase for all collections.
I loved this story. I saw myself so clearly in Jihad. Her grief, her loss, her joy, her love. It felt so familiar, so close to home. It's so beautifully written. Zoulfa paints with words, and I expect nothing less from. Because when you give Zoulfa Katouh a pen, magic happens. This is a story about loss, but at its core it is a gorgeous, magical, and heart wrenching story about the power and strength we find in our grief.
A modern classic about what it means to live, to hope, to despair, and to keep living despite everything. With her signature lyrical prose, Zoulfa Katouh paints an achingly beautiful portrait of a young girl in grief and in love. Brace yourself—there will be tears, and they will be worth it.
Jihad’s self-erasure and gradual reclamation of her confidence resonate deeply, and Katouh renders the bullying she endures with honesty. The portrayals of Syrian American identity, Muslim faith, and diaspora experiences are authentic and lyrical, and Jihad and Jamie’s relationship, rooted in shared longing and cultural questioning, is tender and well-paced.
Devastating and luminous.
Devastating and luminous.
A powerful exploration of injustice, identity, and the radical act of making oneself feel seen.
Katouh follows As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow (2022) with an intense contemporary novel centering 17-year-old Jihad Dabbagh, an artist and daughter of Syrian parents who emigrated to Queens, N.Y. It has been one year since her mother’s shocking death. Colors used to whisper to Jihad. Now, she sees the world in grayscale, manifesting her grief and depression. Jihad’s father sends her to Braxton Academy, a prestigious, mostly-white private school, for her senior year to increase her chances of getting into NYU. Jihad can’t tell him she dreams of attending art school in San Francisco. At Braxton, Jihad’s name and hijab inspire Islamophobia that escalates into bullying and abuse. Only Jamie, the gorgeous, kind boy assigned as her orientation “buddy,” befriends and protects her. Jihad escapes into recreating scenes from her mother’s life in a mysterious found sketchbook. Miraculously, the images appear as colorful murals across New York City, causing a social media frenzy. This is an incredibly tense, unpredictable read. Jamie and Jihad’s budding relationship is the only relief, and it is beautiful to witness. Fans of multi-accolade Sabaa Tahir’s All My Rage (2022) will be on the edge of their seats, utterly invested in a vulnerable protagonist who survives betrayal, neglect, and loss, ultimately finding the strength to thrive.
As gorgeous as it is groundbreaking ... This book is devastatingly beautiful
Wrenching and lyrical
Heartbreaking and poignant
| Author | Zoulfa Katouh |
|---|---|
| Narrator | Victoria Nassif |
| Duration | 11 hours and 45 minutes |
| Release Date | |
| ISBN | 9781526648556 |
| Format | Audiobook |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
| Genre | Children’s / Teenage fiction: Friendship stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General fiction, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Death and bereavement, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Parents, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Racism |
| Availability | AU, GB, IE |
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