Book news: Syrian Child tweets her way to fame and more

Plus: Douaihy translations in the works and yaking a Bite of the Apple.

Syrian Child tweets her way to fame

A 7-year-old Syrian refugee whose tweets – posted by her mother – have been lauded by J K Rowling, among others, has been ­offered a book deal. Simon & Schuster has given Bana Al-Abed, who has fled Aleppo for Turkey, the chance to tell her story, although it is not clear what format Dear World will take when it’s published this year. “I hope my book will make the world do something for the children and people of Syria and bring peace to children all over the world who are living in war,” she said.

Douaihy translations in the works

Dedicated readers of Arabic novels translated into English might remember June Rain by Lebanese novelist Jabbour Douaihy, which was on the very first International Prize for ­Arabic Fiction shortlist. There will soon be a chance to catch up on two of his more recent novels, with the news that American Neighbourhood (which made the 2015 Ipaf longlist) and comedy Printed in Beirut are to be published in English by Interlink.

Taking a Bite of the Apple

You might recall the amusement caused by the Dubai development designed in the shape of an Apple iPod many years ago. The look of the building has changed many times since, but the original construction is the starting point for Tom Dyckhoff’s new non-fiction book The Age of Spectacle, Adventures in Architecture and the 21st-Century City, which is published this week. Pleasingly, Dyckhoff argues that outlandish designs are not necessarily a bad thing, as long as they meet the needs of the people who live and work in them.