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[CCBC-Net] Books about the Middle East
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From: Kathleen T. Horning <horning>
Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 17:40:46 -0500
Elsa, we typically discuss each topic for a two-week period. But better late than never! I'm sure that are many in the CCBC-net community who will appreciate your recommendations, and who will be happy to hear from you.
Welcome!
KT
Kathleen T. Horning Director Cooperative Children's Book Center 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608-263-3721 FAX: 608-262-4933
horning at education.wisc.edu http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Elsa Marston wrote:
> Dear Megan and CCBC-net sbscribers--
>
> As a brand new member of this listserve, I 'm still not sure of the standard
> operating procedures and didn't realize that there is a specified time
> limit for topics. And as children's literature about the Middle East has
> been my main concern for about 20 years, both as an author and a specialist,
> I do have something to say on the subject. I hope you'll allow me to
> squeeze in under the wire and add my bit on this topic. Sorry that I
> couldn't do it in a more timely way.
>
> I concentrate on books and stories (fiction) from picture book to novel that
> focus on the present-day Middle East. The Arabian Nights and folk tales,
> etc., make charming picture books, but they don't tell a young American a
> thing about what's going on in the Arab/Muslim world in the 20th-21st
> century, and why it's important to understand something about real people in
> our own time. Many of the books mentioned by other CCBC-Net people (I may
> have overlooked some) are on my own list of recommended books, but there are
> lots more.
>
> BOOKS ABOUT PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS (MOSTLY FICTION):
>
> Bishara, Amahl. *The Boy and the Wall *(picture book, illustrations by
> children in a Palestinian refugee camp, 2006). Available from
> www.middleeastbooks.com
> Cohen, Barbara. *The Secret Grove *(elementary. Union of American Hebrew
> Congregations, 1985. Worth the effort to get a copy.
> DaCosta, Deborah. *Snow in Jerusalem. *(Albert Whitman, 2001) picture book
> Levine, Anna. *Running on Eggs (*Front Street/Cricket, 1999) Middle
> grades/YA novel
> Morris, Ann and Lilly Rivlin. *When Will the Fighting Stop? A child's View
> of Jerusalem *(Atheneum 1990), elementary
> Barakat, Ibtisam. *Tasting the Sky. (2007), *memoir
> Ghazy, Randa. *Dreaming of Palestine: A Novel of Friendship, Love, and War
> *(George Braziller 2002). Written by a 15-year-old Egyptian girl living in
> Europe, this
> is a powerful novel from the POV of desperate Palestinians, very
> very edgy
> Zenatti, Valerie. *A Bottle in the Gaza Sea *(Bloomsbury 2008) YA
>
>
> Believe it or not, three of the best novels were written way back when no
> one gave a hoot about Palestinians. They'll be hard to find, but well worth
> the effort.
> Forman, James. *My Enemy, My Brother *(Scholastic 1969) YA
> Noble, Iris. *Mahmud's Story: The Journal of a Palestinian Refugee *(Julian
> Messner, 1976) YA
> Richard, Adrienne. *The Accomplice *(Little Brown 1973) YA
>
>
> BOOKS ABOUT OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES (MOSTLY FICTION):
> Alalou, Elizabeth and Ali. *The Butter Man. *(Charlesbridge, 2008) picture
> book, Morocco
> Forman, James. *Call Back Yesterday *(Scribner's 1981) YA, a rather
> horrific hostage story, Saudi Arabia
> Heide, Florence Parry and Judith Heide Gilliland. *The Day of Ahmed's
> Secret (*Lothrop, etc., 1990), Picture book, Egypt
> Heide and Gilliland, *Sami and the Time of the Troubles* (Clarion 1992),
> picture book, Lebanon war
> Kessler, Cristina. *One Night: A Story from the Desert *(Philomel 1995)
> picture book, North AFrica
> Laird, Elizabeth. *Oranges in No Man's Land* (Macmillan UK 2006) short
> novel, Lebanon war
> Lewin, Ted. *The Storytellers *(Lothrop, 1998), picture book, Morocco
> Lloyd, Norris. *The Village That Allah Forgot *(Hastings House 1973)
> short novel, Tunisia. Hard to find, but a wonderful book.
> Matthews, Mary. *Magid Fasts for Ramadan *(Clarion 1996). elementary,
> Egypt
> Matze, Claire Sidhom. *The Stars in My Geddoh's Sky *(Whitman 1999),
> picture book, Egyptian-Americans
> Rardin, Susan. *Captives in a Foreign Land *(Houghton Mifflin 1984) YA --
> a good hostage story, unnamed North African setting
> Schami, Rafik. *A Hand Full of Stars *(Dutton 1990) YA, Syria
> Stamaty, Mark Alan. *Alia's Misson: Saving the Books of Iraq *(Knopf
> 2005), graphic, upper elementary, Iraq
> Winter, Jeanette. *The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq *(Harcourt
> 2005) picture book
> Cohen, Jared. *Children of Jihad: A Young American's Travels Among the
> Youth of the Middle East *(Gotham/Penguin 2007) YA, nonfiction
>
> MY OWN BOOKS:
> This has gone on enough, so I'll just invite you to my website:
> www.elsamarston.com. But I do want to tell you about my latest book, *Santa
> Claus in Baghdad--and Other Stories About Teens in the Arab World *(Indiana
> University Press 2008, available now). This is the only book I know of
> that includes a variety of Arab societies and settings--Baghdad, Egyptian
> village, Lebanon, Damascus, Tunisia, West Bank, Palestinian refugee camp,
> Jordan--and focuses on more or less universal life situations that young
> Americans can identify with: fitting in, finding a friend, dealing with
> divorce, reconciling one's own ambitions with parents' wishes, facing
> oppressive traditions, etc. I have first=hand acquaintance with all these
> places (though some of them a long time ago!) The book is a second
> edition of *Figs and Fate: Stories About Growing Up in the Arab World Today
> *(Braziller 2005), but with three more stories and informative notes for
> each story. *Figs *was used in a good number of schools, middle and high,
> and even some college literature classes. A film (by an independent
> filmmaker) is being made of the "Santa Claus in Baghdad" story, and may be
> available by the end of this year. I hope!
>
> I had an article in The Horn Book (Nov/Dec 2004) about Palestinians in
> children's literature. I hope you find something helpful in this. Please
> contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for letting me present my
> five cents worth.
>
> Elsa Marston
> _______________________________________________
> 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-net
>
Received on Tue 20 May 2008 05:40:46 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 17:40:46 -0500
Elsa, we typically discuss each topic for a two-week period. But better late than never! I'm sure that are many in the CCBC-net community who will appreciate your recommendations, and who will be happy to hear from you.
Welcome!
KT
Kathleen T. Horning Director Cooperative Children's Book Center 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608-263-3721 FAX: 608-262-4933
horning at education.wisc.edu http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Elsa Marston wrote:
> Dear Megan and CCBC-net sbscribers--
>
> As a brand new member of this listserve, I 'm still not sure of the standard
> operating procedures and didn't realize that there is a specified time
> limit for topics. And as children's literature about the Middle East has
> been my main concern for about 20 years, both as an author and a specialist,
> I do have something to say on the subject. I hope you'll allow me to
> squeeze in under the wire and add my bit on this topic. Sorry that I
> couldn't do it in a more timely way.
>
> I concentrate on books and stories (fiction) from picture book to novel that
> focus on the present-day Middle East. The Arabian Nights and folk tales,
> etc., make charming picture books, but they don't tell a young American a
> thing about what's going on in the Arab/Muslim world in the 20th-21st
> century, and why it's important to understand something about real people in
> our own time. Many of the books mentioned by other CCBC-Net people (I may
> have overlooked some) are on my own list of recommended books, but there are
> lots more.
>
> BOOKS ABOUT PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS (MOSTLY FICTION):
>
> Bishara, Amahl. *The Boy and the Wall *(picture book, illustrations by
> children in a Palestinian refugee camp, 2006). Available from
> www.middleeastbooks.com
> Cohen, Barbara. *The Secret Grove *(elementary. Union of American Hebrew
> Congregations, 1985. Worth the effort to get a copy.
> DaCosta, Deborah. *Snow in Jerusalem. *(Albert Whitman, 2001) picture book
> Levine, Anna. *Running on Eggs (*Front Street/Cricket, 1999) Middle
> grades/YA novel
> Morris, Ann and Lilly Rivlin. *When Will the Fighting Stop? A child's View
> of Jerusalem *(Atheneum 1990), elementary
> Barakat, Ibtisam. *Tasting the Sky. (2007), *memoir
> Ghazy, Randa. *Dreaming of Palestine: A Novel of Friendship, Love, and War
> *(George Braziller 2002). Written by a 15-year-old Egyptian girl living in
> Europe, this
> is a powerful novel from the POV of desperate Palestinians, very
> very edgy
> Zenatti, Valerie. *A Bottle in the Gaza Sea *(Bloomsbury 2008) YA
>
>
> Believe it or not, three of the best novels were written way back when no
> one gave a hoot about Palestinians. They'll be hard to find, but well worth
> the effort.
> Forman, James. *My Enemy, My Brother *(Scholastic 1969) YA
> Noble, Iris. *Mahmud's Story: The Journal of a Palestinian Refugee *(Julian
> Messner, 1976) YA
> Richard, Adrienne. *The Accomplice *(Little Brown 1973) YA
>
>
> BOOKS ABOUT OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES (MOSTLY FICTION):
> Alalou, Elizabeth and Ali. *The Butter Man. *(Charlesbridge, 2008) picture
> book, Morocco
> Forman, James. *Call Back Yesterday *(Scribner's 1981) YA, a rather
> horrific hostage story, Saudi Arabia
> Heide, Florence Parry and Judith Heide Gilliland. *The Day of Ahmed's
> Secret (*Lothrop, etc., 1990), Picture book, Egypt
> Heide and Gilliland, *Sami and the Time of the Troubles* (Clarion 1992),
> picture book, Lebanon war
> Kessler, Cristina. *One Night: A Story from the Desert *(Philomel 1995)
> picture book, North AFrica
> Laird, Elizabeth. *Oranges in No Man's Land* (Macmillan UK 2006) short
> novel, Lebanon war
> Lewin, Ted. *The Storytellers *(Lothrop, 1998), picture book, Morocco
> Lloyd, Norris. *The Village That Allah Forgot *(Hastings House 1973)
> short novel, Tunisia. Hard to find, but a wonderful book.
> Matthews, Mary. *Magid Fasts for Ramadan *(Clarion 1996). elementary,
> Egypt
> Matze, Claire Sidhom. *The Stars in My Geddoh's Sky *(Whitman 1999),
> picture book, Egyptian-Americans
> Rardin, Susan. *Captives in a Foreign Land *(Houghton Mifflin 1984) YA --
> a good hostage story, unnamed North African setting
> Schami, Rafik. *A Hand Full of Stars *(Dutton 1990) YA, Syria
> Stamaty, Mark Alan. *Alia's Misson: Saving the Books of Iraq *(Knopf
> 2005), graphic, upper elementary, Iraq
> Winter, Jeanette. *The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq *(Harcourt
> 2005) picture book
> Cohen, Jared. *Children of Jihad: A Young American's Travels Among the
> Youth of the Middle East *(Gotham/Penguin 2007) YA, nonfiction
>
> MY OWN BOOKS:
> This has gone on enough, so I'll just invite you to my website:
> www.elsamarston.com. But I do want to tell you about my latest book, *Santa
> Claus in Baghdad--and Other Stories About Teens in the Arab World *(Indiana
> University Press 2008, available now). This is the only book I know of
> that includes a variety of Arab societies and settings--Baghdad, Egyptian
> village, Lebanon, Damascus, Tunisia, West Bank, Palestinian refugee camp,
> Jordan--and focuses on more or less universal life situations that young
> Americans can identify with: fitting in, finding a friend, dealing with
> divorce, reconciling one's own ambitions with parents' wishes, facing
> oppressive traditions, etc. I have first=hand acquaintance with all these
> places (though some of them a long time ago!) The book is a second
> edition of *Figs and Fate: Stories About Growing Up in the Arab World Today
> *(Braziller 2005), but with three more stories and informative notes for
> each story. *Figs *was used in a good number of schools, middle and high,
> and even some college literature classes. A film (by an independent
> filmmaker) is being made of the "Santa Claus in Baghdad" story, and may be
> available by the end of this year. I hope!
>
> I had an article in The Horn Book (Nov/Dec 2004) about Palestinians in
> children's literature. I hope you find something helpful in this. Please
> contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for letting me present my
> five cents worth.
>
> Elsa Marston
> _______________________________________________
> 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-net
>
Received on Tue 20 May 2008 05:40:46 PM CDT
