From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Tue, 06 Jan 1998 10:41:26 -0600

Carrie-- I think "Habibi" is getting favorable reviews because the writing is so good but I agree with you that it's a political book, not because the author is trying to make a political statement but merely because she writes from a Palestinian point of view, something we don't see often in U.S. children's literature. I found that aspect of it quite intriguing.

Beyond the point of view and setting, however, I thought Naomi Shihab Nye offered a convincing portrait of a young artist, and showed how Liyana's development as a poet was influenced by her surroundings. I enjoyed the interplay between the life Liyana was living in the real world and the life she lived through words between the pages of her notebook.

I also suspected there was more going on in the adult world of Liyana's parents and older relatives than the reader (or Liyana herself) was aware of. I didn't read it as the father being naive about moving his family to a dangerous area.
 I thought he knew exactly what he was doing and that he felt the need to return home, to be reunited with his mother and extended family, and that he wanted his two families to know each other.

No one has mentioned the relationship between Liyana and her grandmother, something that I think is central to the story. Even though they didn't speak the same language, they found ways to communicate and discovered that they were kindred spirits. My impression was that Liyana's father felt that it was important for the two of them to know each other. Liyana's budding relationship with the Jewish boy, Omer, echoes what she learns about her grandmother's past, almost as if history is repeating itself, which in turn echoes the overall theme of how the past is intertwined with the present.

Also, I assumed the story was taking place in the 1960s, not the 1990s, but would be hard-pressed to say why. Did anyone else get the impression it was set in an earlier time?

KT Horning (horning at mail.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education UW-Madison


01/06/98 08:53am >>>

This will probably be unpopular, but...

I really didn't like _Habibi_ at all. I thought the whole premise of the book was false--that a father would be so naive about the dangers of moving a family to Jerusalem at this point in history did not ring true to me. I also think her meeting the Jewish boy was too obviously a plot device. Someone suggested to me that perhaps the book is getting so favorably reviewed because there has been nothing like it before, and because it is filling a hole people are reacting positively to it. On the other hand, maybe I didn't spend enough time with the book--I read it quickly. But I just didn't find it distinguished.
 On a (semi-)related note, anyone else tired of all the covers by Raul Colon? (That will probably be an unpopular comment, too, but I do feel that sometimes one illustrator gets overexposed...)

******************************** Carrie Schadle Aguilar Branch, New York Public Library bz227 at freenet.buffalo.edu 212/534)30
Received on Tue 06 Jan 1998 10:41:26 AM CST