Hello everyone! We are so excited to announce the tour schedule for The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh.
June 1st
unconventionalquirkybibliophile – Promotional Post
June 2nd
More Books Please blog – Review
June 3rd
Ilovebooksandstuffblog – Promotional Post
June 4th
Wishful Endings – Review
June 5th
Boys’ Mom Reads! – Promotional Post
June 6th
Mx. Phoebe’s Viewpoint – Favorite Quotes
dinipandareads – Review, Favorite Quotes
June 7th
Dear Rivarie – Mood Board
June 1st
quirkybibliophile – Promotional Post
shereadytoread – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue, Tik Tok
mrs.brasingtonreads – Review
meghenslittlelibrary – Creative post
bookswithmana – Review
June 2nd
morebookspleaseblog – Review
amzreads – Review
kathreadsall – Review
just_talking_to_my_shelf – Review, Favorite Quotes
June 3rd
ilovebooksandstuffblog – Promotional Post
gsreadingspree – Review
artxsouls – Review, Tik Tok
reads_with_k.rose – Review, Favorite Quotes
into_the_bookish_wild – Creative post
June 4th
wishfulendings – Review
redreviews4you – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue
ashton_reads – Promotional Post
laurensbookvibes – Review
onemused – Promotional Post
aneedleinmybookstack – Review
June 5th
meetcuteromancebooks – Review, Playlist
bookmarked.by.becky – Review
bookbias – Promotional Post
rickys_radical_reads – Promotional Post
June 6th
mxphoebesviewpoint – Favorite Quotes
belle.bookcorner – Promotional Post
brittyoreads – Review
markita_reads – Promotional Post
June 7th
enthuse_reader – Review
kmartbooks – Review
whatjaymiereads – Review
callistoscalling – Creative post
bookdemonio – Promotional Post
Genre: Young Adult, Magical Realism
Publishing date: June 2, 2026
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Rep: Syrian American, Hijabi, Muslim
Synopsis:
From the celebrated author of As Long as the Lemon Tree Grows comes a poignant novel about a Syrian American girl who uses a magical sketchbook to turn her grief into art, painting miraculous murals of her mother’s life in Syria.
Seventeen-year-old Jihad Dabbagh has always seen life with a heightened sense for colors, one of many magical blessings the women in her family possess. But Jihad’s gift changes depending on her mood. When depression sets in, the world is a colorless oasis, and in the wake of her mother’s sudden death, the world has become a permanent shade of grey.
Broken by tragedy, Jihad’s family doesn’t believe her color loss. Her father sends her to the elite Braxton Academy to finish her senior year. There, Jihad’s name and hijab put a target on her back. Her haven comes in the form of an old sketchbook carved from a tree in her hometown in Syria — a country she only knew through her mother’s stories. Jihad hasn’t picked up a brush in over a year, but finds herself channeling the colors of her hurt, pain, and grief as she paints the story of her mother’s journey in Syria.
When graffiti of that same mural starts magically popping up all over New York, her art goes viral and the world takes notice, the threat of legal consequences is imminent. To reclaim her voice, Jihad will have to paint a new future for herself and Braxton, guided by the resilience of her mother’s story.
Content Warning: Grief over death of a family member, severe bullying and harassment, racism, Islamophobia, bleak realism over justice enacted
Zoulfa Katouh is the award-winning and bestselling author of the novel AS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW. It’s been translated into over twenty-five languages and was a Governor General’s Award finalist and a Yoto Carnegie Medal nominee. Zoulfa holds a degree in pharmacy and a master’s in Drug Sciences. She resides in Switzerland where she lives as a Studio Ghibli protagonist who is surrounded by a never-ending stack of books that keeps growing.
Toppling Stacks Tours 