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A review by katemiller41
Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye
3.0
This book was like a rich meal. To truly be appreciated, it must be consumed in small doses and enjoyed bite for bite. The poet in Nye really shines through this entire work. So many of the passage contain "one-liners" that hold more truth and beauty than some other entire novels that I've read.
The main character, Liyana, is the fictional representation of Nye herself. She is a young, Palestinian-American girl growing up in America, when her father decides to move them back to his home country. Liyana essentially suffers an existential crisis. She is trying to find answers to questions like: Who am I? How do I know who I am? What makes me "Liyana"? She struggles with feeling entirely alone in a land so vastly different from her own. She also starts to find out just how big the world is, and how little her existence can mean sometimes. "She was - incidental - to the planet's actions." Life goes on around her, and even without her, and that is a revelation that is difficult for a 15 year old to comprehend.
It is not until Liyana meets a young man that she starts to truly feel at home in the new country. They seem to share common interests of wandering, thinking, and debating things large and small. One day, Liyana realizes that her new friend is not another Arab as she had first assume, but a Jew. With the tension between the two cultures that was constantly brewing in the nation, Liyana was unsure of how her family would receive her new friend. Luckily, she was strong and adamant, and eventually had the opportunity to introduce Omer to her Sitti, the embodiment of all that is the "old country" in Palestine. Sitti is very of this earth, she will not use elevators, or telephones, and still uses a huge outdoor oven instead of any modern conveniences. While Liyana's father was worried about Sitti's reaction to the Jewish boy, was astonished to find that Sitti believed Omer to be an angel of a man she used to know. And suddenly, there was peace within their diverse family.
This book did a beautiful job of explaining how small steps taken on a personal level can be exactly what an entire nation needs to make it's way toward a larger goal of peace. We can all overcome our prejudices and hatred if only we can see the similarities and love that could bring us together, if only we let it.
The main character, Liyana, is the fictional representation of Nye herself. She is a young, Palestinian-American girl growing up in America, when her father decides to move them back to his home country. Liyana essentially suffers an existential crisis. She is trying to find answers to questions like: Who am I? How do I know who I am? What makes me "Liyana"? She struggles with feeling entirely alone in a land so vastly different from her own. She also starts to find out just how big the world is, and how little her existence can mean sometimes. "She was - incidental - to the planet's actions." Life goes on around her, and even without her, and that is a revelation that is difficult for a 15 year old to comprehend.
It is not until Liyana meets a young man that she starts to truly feel at home in the new country. They seem to share common interests of wandering, thinking, and debating things large and small. One day, Liyana realizes that her new friend is not another Arab as she had first assume, but a Jew. With the tension between the two cultures that was constantly brewing in the nation, Liyana was unsure of how her family would receive her new friend. Luckily, she was strong and adamant, and eventually had the opportunity to introduce Omer to her Sitti, the embodiment of all that is the "old country" in Palestine. Sitti is very of this earth, she will not use elevators, or telephones, and still uses a huge outdoor oven instead of any modern conveniences. While Liyana's father was worried about Sitti's reaction to the Jewish boy, was astonished to find that Sitti believed Omer to be an angel of a man she used to know. And suddenly, there was peace within their diverse family.
This book did a beautiful job of explaining how small steps taken on a personal level can be exactly what an entire nation needs to make it's way toward a larger goal of peace. We can all overcome our prejudices and hatred if only we can see the similarities and love that could bring us together, if only we let it.