Reviews

a map of home is a coming-of-age story traversing the united states, kuwait, and egypt and follows nadali through her childhood and teen years. nadali’s mother is egyptian and greek, her father palestinian, and home is a moving concept. most of the story is written in standard prose, and as nadali’s self-exploration in her teens grows the chapters move into different formats, including a list (my favorite literary device).

i used a gift card to order this and blood orange a couple of weeks ago when i could feel myself sliding into depression, because i wanted some queer palestinian reads—nadali is bisexual. i absolutely loved randa jarrar’s writing in a map of home and immediately put library holds on her other books.

“i looked up at the horizon expecting a straight line and instead found a wrap-around horizon like a semi-circle. i thought of the semi-circles beneath my eyes, how they swelled out like every other woman's in my family. i thought about all the main events of my family history and discovered that they were all wars. i imagined my family history without war. my grandmother would not have lost her father in the first war in palestine and would not have been sold to the family through whom she met my father's father. my yia yia would not have met my geddo had it not been for world war II and that dress-up orphanage. i wondered how many wars waited in my future, and if

children—if i had any—would be products of them.“

free palestine. end the occupation.

TWs

colonization, gaslighting, physical abuse, rape, war

photo review: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4JM8FfvX9f/?igsh=NzBmMjdhZWRiYQ==

Content Warnings

yasidiaz's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A Map of Home tells the story of Nidali, the oldest daughter of a Palestinian man and an Egyptian and Greek mother. Born in Boston, we see how she and her family move from country to country and how she tries to make sense of the life she lives.

This is a book about identity, about being mixed, about being not enough of one thing or too much of another. It’s the ramblings and the rants of a complicated teen from a complicated and dysfunctional family. And it’s both funny and emotional.

Nidali is a complicated character, sometimes frustrating, but it is what makes this book more dynamic and fun. She’s imperfect and she is meant to be. You are meant to accept that this is a teen growing up in a dysfunctional environment, both at home and outside with society. You are reading about a teen whose life is contradictory and she knows it, she is also trying to make sense of it.

It’s vulgar, over the top, messy, and all those things we want to forget about being teens.

I also want to note about what happened to Randa Jarrar about a week ago. The disrespect and disregard towards Palestine and its people keep reaching new lows every day. Her being forcefully removed for protesting the zionist stances of a fellow writer, who was given the platform and a mic, but then it is her who is called a suppressor of free speech should be completely unacceptable. We need to keep showing up for Palestinians and let publishers know this behavior is not ok, and that we reviewers and book lovers cannot accept this behavior. It’s been over 100 days and no major print has stood up for Palestine. We need to demand better.

Content Warnings

kristinvdt's review against another edition

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3.0

Entertaining, though not terribly original.

ritsukas's review against another edition

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2.5

rating: 2.5 stars
— read for school

ali_nf's review against another edition

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3.0

Quick, easy read, but kind of meh. Not very original and I never felt all that emotional about the characters. Kind of lacked any depth, but maybe I just need to learn more about Middle Eastern history.

thestarrfish's review

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emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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