A Little Piece of Ground

A Little Piece of Ground

Written by: Elizabeth Laird

Junior High and High School Grades

"Written by Elizabeth Laird, one of Great Britain's best-known young adult authors, A Little Piece Of Ground explores the human cost of the occupation of Palestinian lands through the eyes of a young boy.

Twelve-year-old Karim Aboudi and his family are trapped in their Ramallah home by a strict curfew. In response to a Palestinian suicide bombing, the Israeli military subjects the West Bank town to a virtual siege. Meanwhile, Karim, trapped at home with his teenage brother and fearful parents, longs to play football with his friends. When the curfew ends, he and his friend discover an unused patch of ground that's the perfect site for a football pitch. Nearby, an old car hidden intact under bulldozed building makes a brilliant den. But in this city there's constant danger, even for schoolboys. And when Israeli soldiers find Karim outside during the next curfew, it seems impossible that he will survive."

Publishers Synopsis

Web Resources:
www.haymarketbooks.org/laird_teaching_guide.pdf

http://www.haymarketbooks.org/product_info.php?products_id=1576

Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak

Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak

Written by: Deborah Ellis

Junior High and High School Grades

"This collection of accounts from young people between the ages of 8 and 18 portrays the sapping toll of war on their lives. Instead of looking toward their futures, these kids are watching their backs. Instead of playing games of pick-up ball in the street, they're lobbing rocks at soldier's and dodging tear gas and bullets. Israeli students are pressed into military service. In Palestine, the scanty settlements are overcrowded and unsafe. Each narrative is prefaced with a short historical or personal background description providing a point of reference for the sentiments expressed. Ellis effectively remains absent, serving as chronicler for these ordinary kids in traumatic circumstances who are tinged by varying degrees of anger and despair."

School Library Journal Review

Web Resources:
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/authors/experts/dellis.asp

Habibi

Habibi

Written by: Naomi Shaihab Nye

Junior High and High School Grades

"When fourteen-year-old Liyanne Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village where her father was born, they face many changes and must deal with the tensions between Jews and Palestinians."

Publishers Synopsis

Online Resources:
http://litplans.com/authors/Naomi_Shihab_Nye.html

Sitti's Secrets

Sitti's Secrets

Written by: Naomi Shihab Nye
Illustrated by: Nancy Carpenter

Elementary Grades

"When Sitti, an American girl, goes to visit her grandmother in her small Middle Eastern village on the other side of the world, they don't need words to understand each other's heart. "A thoughtful, loving affirmation of the bonds that transcend language barriers, time zones, and national borders."

School Library Journal

Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood

Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood

Written by: Ibtasim Barakat

Junior High and High School Grades

"In a spare, eloquent memoir, Barakat recalls life under military occupation. In 1981 the author, then in high school, boarded a bus bound for Ramallah. The bus was detained by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint on the West Bank, and she was taken to a detention center before being released. The episode triggers sometimes heart-wrenching memories of herself as a young child, at the start of the 1967 Six Days' War, as Israeli soldiers conducted raids, their planes bombed her home, and she fled with her family across the border to Jordan. She also recalls living under occupation and the thrill of being able to attend the United Nations school for refugees. The political upheaval is always in the background, but for young Barakat, much of the drama was in incidents that took place in everyday life. What makes the memoir so compelling is the immediacy of the child's viewpoint, which depicts both conflict and daily life without exploitation or sentimentality. An annotated bibliography will help readers fill in the facts."

Booklist Review

Web Resources:
http://us.macmillan.com/tastingthesky#guides
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070618/bennett