Recommended Books for Children about Palestine and Israel
People sometimes ask me what it is like to live in Israel. My short
answer? Living here is living under siege. Sometimes it is quiet
and sometimes, too often, life becomes a war zone, or worse, an actual
war. Very few works of children's fiction have been published
about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Perhaps we all like to read
about pleasant subjects with happy endings.
There
are no happy endings in these books, but they will give you some idea
of what it feels like to live both in Israel and in Palestine. It is my
fervent wish that someday we may read them as mere historical documents
and that we will succeed in creating peace and tolerance in the Middle
East.
Middle Grade/Young Adult Fiction
Almagor, Gila. Trans. Hillel Schenker. Under the Domin Tree. Simon and Schuster. 1995.
Based
on the author's childhood, the story follows a group of teenage
Holocaust survivors living in a youth village in Israel in 1953. The
book provides a glimpse into the central role the Holocaust plays in
Israeli consciousness.
Banks, Lynne Reid. One More River. (1973) Avon Books, 1996.
Banks
lived many years on a kibbutz. The story describes the
difficulties a Canadian girl faces in adjusting to life on a kibbutz in
the 1960s and the almost-friendship that develops between her and an
Arab boy living across the river in Jordan. The Six Day War changes
their lives forever.
Banks, Lynne Reid. Broken Bridge. (1994) Avon Books, 1996.
A
sequel set twenty years later on the same kibbutz with many of the same
characters, but focusing on the daughter of the protagonist of One More
River. The story opens with the murder of the protagonist's
cousin and the effect of his death on the family and the terrorists who
carried out the killing. Banks' two books provide an inside view of
life on an Israeli kibbutz and the changes that have occurred over the
past twenty years - I can vouch for their accuracy.
Carmi, Daniella. Trans.Yael Lotan. Samir and Yonatan. (1994) New York: Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic. 2000.
Samir,
a Palestinian boy, spends time with three Israeli children in a
hospital room while awaiting an operation. Friendships develop
among the children who would not have met under other circumstances.
Carter, Anne Laurel. The Shepherd's Granddaughter. Toronto: Groundwood, 2008.
Told
through the perspective of a Palestinian girl from a traditional family
who oppose her wish to become a shepherd like her beloved grandfather.
Amani and her extended family watch with anguish as Israeli settlers
take over their ancestral lands to build a new settlement.
Clinton, Cathryn. A Stone in My Hand. Candlewick Press, 2002.
A
Palestinian girl living in Gaza is torn between worry for her father
who has disappeared and her brother who is drawn to a terrorist gang.
This is a sensitive portrayal of a girl traumatized by the first
Intifada and life under Israeli occupation.
Kass, Pnina Moed. Real Time. New York: Clarion Books, 2004.
The
tense story of a suicide bus bombing provides insight into life and
death in Israel today. The novel is beautifully written with
interesting characters and multiple points of view, including that of
the suicide bomber, a German boy, and a Holocaust survivor.
Laird, Elizabeth, with Sonia Nimr. A Little Piece of Ground. (2003) London: Macmillan Children's Books, 2004.
Twelve-year-old
Karim struggles to live a normal life in Israeli-occupied Ramallah and
fulfill his dream of playing football. Life with curfews and Israeli
tanks occupying his city is difficult, but Karim also faces problems
anyone his age will find familiar: an insufferable older brother, a
pesky younger sister, over-protective parents, boring teachers, and
conflicts among friends.
Levine, Anna. Freefall. New York: Greenwillow, 2008.
Call
me biased, but I think my good friend Anna has written a book that
crosses the boundaries between "Middle East" and "universal." Freefall
is the story of Aggie who has just graduated from high school and is in
that limbo period before being drafted into the Israeli army. Aggie
wants many things: to join a combat unit, achieve independence from her
parents, tell her best friend's brother how she really feels about him
(and vice versa) and ultimately, to help others during war time.
Aggie's concern with boy friends, girl friends, parents, and her
confrontation of her own fears will be easily recognizable to any
reader. The vivid descriptions of life in Israel and Aggie's inner
drive to join a combat unit provide unique insight into life in Israel
today. http://freefallthenovel.com
Levine, Anna. Running on Eggs. Chicago: Front Street/Cricket, 1999
Karen,
whose father was killed in the First Lebanon War, and Yasmine, from a
neighboring Arab village, become friends on the school track team, but
their families and communities threaten their friendship.
Levintin, Sonia. The Singing Mountain. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.
An American family travels to Israel to convince a cousin to return home with them.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Habibi. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
The
lyrical story of an Arab American family that leaves a comfortable life
in the U.S. to live in Palestine. Liyana learns to appreciate the
culture of her village grandmother and makes friends with an Israeli
boy. A moving story of family ties, adjusting to new surroundings, and
the budding of first love.
Zennatti, Valerie. Trans. Adriana Hunter. A Bottle in the Gaza Sea. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008.
An
Israeli teenager is distraught after a terrorist bombing in her
neighborhood. She writes a letter which her brother tosses into the sea
near Gaza. Found by a young Palestinian, the short novel is told
through emails the two send back and forth as they argue, explain, and
learn to understand one another better.
Other Recommended Books
Ellis, Deborah. Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak. Toronto: Groundwood/Douglas & McIntyre, 2004.
A
collection of interviews with Palestinian and Israeli teenagers. They
talk about their lives, their dreams, and their feelings of fear, anger
and hatred. I found this book chilling to read.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Nineteen Varieties of Gazelle. [1994] New York: Harper Tempest, 2005.
A
rich, thought-provoking collection of poems of the Middle East. I
return to it frequently, cooling myself in the clarity of Nye's vision
and empathy.