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[CCBC-Net] Books on the Middle East
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From: Bookmarch <bookmarch>
Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 09:55:20 -0400
I have a book coming out this fall called Unsettled: the Problem of Loving Israel (Ginee Seo Books). Aimed at high school aged readers (and in part based on interviews I conducted with teenagers in Israel) the book is a kind of debate -- with me taking both sides -- on many key questions in Israel's past, present, and future. I hope to enlist American teenagers in helping Israel to face the key issue that is often lost in the shouting: the fact that 20% of Israel's population are Arab citizens of Israel. These are people who live within the 1948 borders, not West Bank Palestinians. They have full legal rights, but are, in many respects in the position of American blacks before the Civil Rights era. I believe that our experience in the 60s when we began to develop a new image of America can be helpful to Israelis, both Jewish and Muslim, who do not yet have an image of a multicultural Israel.
I sent the ms. out to teenagers here, and found them particularly interested in hearing the voices of their peers.
Marc Aronson www.marcaronson.com bookmarch at aol.com 973-763-9343 (phone) 973-763-6601 (fax) 917-257-7072 (cell)
In a message dated 05/15/08 09:41:03 Eastern Daylight Time, schliesman at education.wisc.edu writes: In addition to the fine books in the "Breadwinner" trilogoy by Deborah Ellis, which have already been mentioned, as well as others a few of you have shared, I can think of a number of other novels and other books for older children and teens set in the Middle East. Among those we've recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices, our annual best-of-the-year list, are
A Stone in My Hand by Catherine Clinton Samir & Yonatan by Daniella Carmi Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye Light Years by Tammar Stein A Little Piece of Ground by Elizabeth Laird Anahita's Woven Riddle by Megan Nuttall Sayers The Flag of Childhood: Poems from the Middle East compiled by Naomi Shihab Nye Mosque by David Macaulay When I Was a Soldier: A Memoir by Valerie Zenatti Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis
Those of you who were either able to attend the Arbuthnot Lecture by David Macaulay on April 17 here in Madison, or who watched the video live or after the fact, may have been struck as I was that he decided to do the book "Mosque" after the attacks of September 11, 2001. He shelved another project (which turned out to be his new book coming out this year) because he felt the need to do something in the days following September 11 that would help children and teens better understand a religion that was suddenly at the forefront of what they were seeing and hearing about.
Younger children are most apt to be exposed to books about this part of the world by adults. I'm curious to hear if anyone can speak to seeing older children and teens seeking out books or expressing interest in finding out more on their own. Or, at the least, if you've had opportunities to share and talk with them about these and other books and what you've observed in their responses.
Megan
Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 09:55:20 -0400
I have a book coming out this fall called Unsettled: the Problem of Loving Israel (Ginee Seo Books). Aimed at high school aged readers (and in part based on interviews I conducted with teenagers in Israel) the book is a kind of debate -- with me taking both sides -- on many key questions in Israel's past, present, and future. I hope to enlist American teenagers in helping Israel to face the key issue that is often lost in the shouting: the fact that 20% of Israel's population are Arab citizens of Israel. These are people who live within the 1948 borders, not West Bank Palestinians. They have full legal rights, but are, in many respects in the position of American blacks before the Civil Rights era. I believe that our experience in the 60s when we began to develop a new image of America can be helpful to Israelis, both Jewish and Muslim, who do not yet have an image of a multicultural Israel.
I sent the ms. out to teenagers here, and found them particularly interested in hearing the voices of their peers.
Marc Aronson www.marcaronson.com bookmarch at aol.com 973-763-9343 (phone) 973-763-6601 (fax) 917-257-7072 (cell)
In a message dated 05/15/08 09:41:03 Eastern Daylight Time, schliesman at education.wisc.edu writes: In addition to the fine books in the "Breadwinner" trilogoy by Deborah Ellis, which have already been mentioned, as well as others a few of you have shared, I can think of a number of other novels and other books for older children and teens set in the Middle East. Among those we've recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices, our annual best-of-the-year list, are
A Stone in My Hand by Catherine Clinton Samir & Yonatan by Daniella Carmi Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye Light Years by Tammar Stein A Little Piece of Ground by Elizabeth Laird Anahita's Woven Riddle by Megan Nuttall Sayers The Flag of Childhood: Poems from the Middle East compiled by Naomi Shihab Nye Mosque by David Macaulay When I Was a Soldier: A Memoir by Valerie Zenatti Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis
Those of you who were either able to attend the Arbuthnot Lecture by David Macaulay on April 17 here in Madison, or who watched the video live or after the fact, may have been struck as I was that he decided to do the book "Mosque" after the attacks of September 11, 2001. He shelved another project (which turned out to be his new book coming out this year) because he felt the need to do something in the days following September 11 that would help children and teens better understand a religion that was suddenly at the forefront of what they were seeing and hearing about.
Younger children are most apt to be exposed to books about this part of the world by adults. I'm curious to hear if anyone can speak to seeing older children and teens seeking out books or expressing interest in finding out more on their own. Or, at the least, if you've had opportunities to share and talk with them about these and other books and what you've observed in their responses.
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 608/262-9503 schliesman at education.wisc.edu www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ _______________________________________________ CCBC-Net mailing list CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-netReceived on Thu 15 May 2008 08:55:20 AM CDT
