HABIBI

Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1999. HABIBI. New York: Simon Pulse.
ISBN-10: 0689825234

PLOT SUMMARY
Liyana is devastated when her father informs the family that they will be moving back to his homeland of Jerusalem. Her parents have always talked of this, but Liyana never thought it would actually happen. Having no other choice but to follow their father the family sells most of their possessions and travel half way around the world. Once in her new home Liyana is faced with relatives she has never meet, customs that do not allow her to be friends with boys and a language she does not know. Even though she is homesick for St. Louis she attempts to give her new home a chance by learning the language, getting to know her Sitti, and exploring the city. It is through this exploring that she meets a new friend Omer who happens to be Jewish. However, she never expected to have to deal with the political and religious issues in the country. Many of which affect her friends and family. Even with all these issues she is able to become a part of her new home.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Nye has done a wonderful job describing the landscape, customs and dress of Jerusalem. Her detailed description of the village outside the city ” The dusky green of olive trees planted in terraced rows up hillsides, walls of carefully stacked stone, old wells with real wooden buckets….” helps the reader to look past all the politics and violence that they may have seen on the news and realize what a beautiful place Jerusalem really is. Another cultural marker that Nye uses to help the reader is her description of custom and dress. “ The women’s long dresses were made of thick fabrics, purple, gold, and navy blue, and stitched brightly with fabulous, complicated embroidery.” As the reader reads lines like these they are transformed to another world.
Besides her use of detailed descriptions another reason her book works so well are her characters. As you read you immediately fall in love with all the characters. Even though it would be easy to dislike her father for moving his family she never allows Liyana to speak ill of him like most teenagers would do in the situation. The family sticks together and supports each other and that is evident in their interaction. The secondary characters are also extremely likeable such as Omer and Sitti.
Overall, this is a wonderful story for any young adult. It touches on many topics that a young adult may face as well as the culture of a new land. This book would help a class touch on many subject areas while reading a wonderfully written story.


REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal
When Liyana's doctor father, a native Palestinian, decides to move his contemporary Arab-American family back to Jerusalem from St. Louis, 14-year-old Liyana is unenthusiastic. Arriving in Jerusalem, the girl and her family are gathered in by their colorful, warmhearted Palestinian relatives and immersed in a culture where only tourists wear shorts and there is a prohibition against boy/girl relationships. When Liyana falls in love with Omer, a Jewish boy, she challenges family, culture, and tradition, but her homesickness fades. Constantly lurking in the background of the novel is violence between Palestinian and Jew. It builds from minor bureaucratic annoyances and humiliations, to the surprisingly shocking destruction of grandmother's bathroom by Israeli soldiers, to a bomb set off in a Jewish marketplace by Palestinians.

The New York Times Book Review
Adolescence magnifies the joys and anxieties of growing up even as it radically simplifies the complexities of the adult world. The poet and anthologist Naomi Shibab Nye is meticulously sensitive to this rainbow of emotion in her autobiographical novel, Habibi…. Habibi gives a reader all the sweet richness of a Mediterranean dessert, while leaving some of the historic complexities open to interpretation.


Reviews accessed at:
http://www.amazon.com/Habibi-Naomi-Shihab-Nye/dp/0689825234


CONNECTIONS
Additional books by the author:
Sitti's Secrets ISBN-10: 0689817061
The Flag of Childhood: Poems From the Middle East ISBN-10: 0689851723