Ali Akbar Mahdi – författare

This unique volume offers unprecedented insight into the typical day, interests, and familial, social, and cultural lives of Middle Eastern teens. Each chapter includes a resource guide to teach teens more about the 11 profiled countries: Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Numerous photos accompany the text. This book provides teen readers in the West with a window into the everyday lives of their counterparts in the East, fostering a better understanding of both their similarities and differences.The current population of the Middle East is young, and their future is critical in our worldview. Teen life in the Middle East is marked by extremes. In some countries, especially those that are Westernized, teens share the benefits of globalization with material and social comforts such as private schooling and vacations abroad. In other countries, political instability, religious and cultural repression, war and occupation, earthquakes, and poverty are ongoing crises. Many teenagers must endure a difficult, and sometimes nearly impossible, path to adulthood.

Iran is often a hotspot in the news, and the Muslim state is usually negatively portrayed in the West. Culture and Customs of Iran rejects facile stereotyping and presents the rich, age-old Persian culture that struggles with pressures of the modern world. This is the first volume in English to reveal the important sociocultural facets of Iran today for a general audience in an objective fashion. Authoritative, substantive narrative chapters cover the gamut of topics, from religion and religious thought to Iranian cuisine and festivals.