(by Naomi Shihab Nye, Simon & Schuster, $16 hard)
Habibi, means “darling” in Arabic, and is the story of a Arab-American 14-year-old named Liyana whose family moves from St. Louis, Missouri to Israel, her father’s original home. Her adjustment to her new life includes new relatives, a new school, and experiences unlike any she had in the U.S.A. She learns about the disagreements between Arabs and Jews and how hard it is to live comfortably knowing that Israeli soldiers could barge in and smash your things any second. She also learns that romance is not permitted there until one is married, which becomes a problem when she meets Omer, a Jewish boy whose kisses replace her American boyfriend’s back home. Though the events surrounding the story are very serious, the book has a quirky humor and best-friend tone that make it fun to read.
My favorite characters were Poppy, Liyana’s dad, who believes in peace and wished Israel would set a better example for his children, and Sitti, her grandmother, who is very spiritual and quiet. I really liked the parts where Sitti taught Liyana the old Arab customs like how to fire bread in a big oven and how to carry a water jug on her head.
The chapters are all different lengths: some are essays by Liyana’s brother; some are so short and rhythmic they seem like poems. Under the name of each, there is an epigram. Like for the chapter “How Many Sides Does a Story Have?” the epigram is, “A story is like the seam on a dress, some days it unravels,” an idea which really gets you thinking in the course of the chapter.
The book captured the view of a 14-year-old in each situation, not only because of Nye’s writing, but because it is based on her real experiences in Palestine at Liyana’s age. It used great words and metaphors, to describe feelings, such as “keeping a secret makes you feel glittery.” I could see in my head exactly what was going on in the book and what it looked, smelled, or even felt like. It made you feel like you were there — just what you want a book to do.
Even though I originally thought I would not be interested in a story about the Middle East, I soon got totally into Habibi and was turning pages every five seconds until my father pried me off the couch to go to bed.
Katie Walsh is a sixth-grade student at Lee Elementary, and an aspiring writer. This is her first published review.
This article appears in December 26 • 1997 and December 26 • 1997 (Cover).