Nora Lester Murad is a writer, educator, and activist. Her novel, “Ida in the Middle” for ages 12+ won the 2023 Arab American Book Award, the 2024 Middle East Book Award, a Skipping Stones Honor Award, and was a finalist for the 2024 Jane Addams Peace Association Children’s Book Award. Nora edited “I Found Myself in Palestine: Stories of Love and Renewal From Around the Globe” (2020) and co-authored “Rest in My Shade: A Poem About Roots” (2018).

While living in Palestine, she co-founded Dalia Association, Palestine’s community foundation and Aid Watch Palestine, a community-driven aid accountability initiative in Gaza. She is a Policy Member of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, serves on the Board of Visualizing Palestine, and supports other social justice issues.

From a Jewish family, Nora is the mother of three Palestinian daughters and lives with her husband in Massachusetts on the traditional homelands of the Eastern Woodland indigenous peoples. She shares K-12 teaching resources about Palestine at www.IdaInTheMiddle.com and can be reached through her blog at www.NoraLesterMurad.com.