“Maybe the hardest thing about moving overseas was being in a place where no one but your own family had any memory of you. It was like putting yourself back together with little pieces.”

It would be very difficult for any 14 year old to be uprooted by her family and moved overseas, but for Liyana Abboud, a very American teenager whose father is Palestinian, moving to Jerusalem from St Louis completely changed her world.

From the Publisher:

What does Jerusalem hold for Liyana? A grandmother, a Sitti, she has never met, for one. A history much bigger than she is. Visits to the West Bank village where her aunts and uncles live. Mischief. Old stone streets that wind through time and trouble. Opening doors, dark jail cells, a new feeling for peace, and Omer…the intriguing stranger whose kisses replace the one she lost when she moved across the ocean.

This is a lovely story of what it means to suddenly be immersed in another culture just at a time when you are beginning to define who you are and what you believe in.  It’s a powerful story of self-discovery, of family, and of what it means to be part of the bigger picture of history.

I have long enjoyed and appreciated Naomi Shihab Nye’s beautiful poetry. She has put a lot of that beautiful language into this little book, and told a story that is very close to her heart.  I love the way Liyana’s extended family reaches out to her and helps her through her culture shock and helps her understand her own heritage.  I particularly love the relationship she has with her Sitti (her grandmother).

Habibi, by Naomi Shihab Nye, is a quick but thoughtful read. I highly recommend this little book.

My first Kindle read:  the newly announced Newbery Award Winning book, When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead!  What a great book to start off my love affair with my new Kindle.  I couldn’t stop reading it, and was very excited that this very creative and engaging book won the Newbery medal.  It was well-deserved.

I didn’t know anything at all about this book before I read it, so it was terrific to simply experience it.  It’s very unusual and I found myself loving the way it was written.  It also incorporates a book that I know many of you love as much as I do:  Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.  It’s part mystery, historical fiction, science fiction, magical realism, all rolled into one great story. It makes me wish I was teaching 6th grade again, so I could read it aloud to my students, who would love it.  But that would only be after I read them A Wrinkle in Time so they could fully appreciate the connections between the two books.

Now I completely understand why people were so happy last week when the Newbery Award was announced.

From the publisher:

Four mysterious letters change Miranda’s world forever.

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner.

But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper:

I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.

I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.

The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late.