By: Naomi Shihab Nye Publisher: Simon Pulse Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Simon Pulse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 272 Publication Date: June 01, 1999 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: The day after Liyana got her first real kiss, her life changed forever. Not because of the kiss, but because it was the day her father announced that the family was moving from St. Louis all the way to Palestine. Though her father grew up there, Liyana knows very little about her family's Arab heritage. Her grandmother and the rest of her relatives who live in the West Bank are strangers, and speak a language she can't understand. It isn't until she meets Omer that her homesickness fades. But Omer is Jewish, and their friendship is silently forbidden in this land. How can they make their families understand? And how can Liyana ever learn to call this place home?
Terrible I am reading this book, and it is honestly one of the worst books I've ever read.
This is a great IDEA for a book, but it should have been written in first person, and there are mulpitle passages that are hard to understand the way they are worded, and it is really over-dramatic and corny in some places.
I especially disagree with the reveiwer who related this book to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, that is my favorite book ever, and i couldn't stand "Habibi".
This book is literally driving me crazy.
Moving to Palestine Liyana's father is an Arab, born and raised in Palestine before there were religious wars there. When he was done with high school and college, he was offered a chance to go to medical school in the United States. He went, met Liyana's mother, fell in love and stayed in Missouri to raise Liyana and her younger brother Rafik.
Now Liyana is about to start high school and Rafik is about to start middle school. Their parents decide it is the perfect time for the family to move. Their father had always hoped that their children would know both the American and Arab sides of their heritage.
So, during the summer, the family packs up and moves to Jerusalem, where they have numerous relatives they've never met. People there don't speak much English, and Liyana has a hard time communicating. She goes to an Armenian school where she has lessons in Arabic with the kindergarten students.
However, Liyana is able to adjust to life in a new country. Things become even better when she meets a boy she likes during her lunch hour one day. The only problem is that the boy is Jewish, which causes some hard feelings in Liyana's family.
I liked being able to get a taste of what it would be like living in Jerusalem as a child. I liked reading about the history behind the city and what it was like a few years ago when this book was written. I also liked the relationships between the parents and children in this family.
However, I found this story very unrealistic. I couldn't believe that neither Liyana nor Rafik put up a fuss about moving to a different country. I also couldn't believe how well they were accepted in their new home.
Thoroughly metaphorical and inspiring! I was introduced to Naomi Shihab Nye earlier this year as a poet and I was instantly hooked, her poetry was both compelling and inspirational. When I learned that she had written a novel, I wasted no time in reading it.
Once I opened Habibi, I was instantly lured in by the impeccable use of image grammar techniques, especially metaphors. It seems like nearly everything was a symbol of something quite ominous and conspicuous. The plot was truly moving, and, unlike that other person who reviewed this book, I believe it is in no way offensive to Jews. While it did speak of the Jewish community in a way that had a slightly negative outlook, it was overridden by the main character's point of view, who sees no reason to be separate from them, though she is a little wary. I think that is fine though, because it supplies a reality of wanting to learn more about other cultures and races and learning how to live among them.
I also liked the sentences at the top of each chapter. I found this use of foreshadowing far more interesting than the regular use, and the words within them tasted sweet upon my tongue. Some of them were so realistic and bold that I wanted to do away with them, for there meanings were so heavy. Here are a few that I particularly liked: "She opened her mouth and a siren came out" as well as "Water came from the earth and stories sprang from the stones" and "Teach me to sew a vine of stars." I loved these.
Overall, Habibi has several beautiful messages: 1. We must surf the waves on which we are given, or else we will crash 2. The only way to find inner peace is to find peace within your community 3. There is always a balance 4. Things are not always as they seem; unexpected treasures can be found anywhere and everywhere
In conclusion, I think it is an incredible book, and I have no idea how anybody could not like it. The surface supplies a very boring plot, but once you start looking closely, it forces you into emotions, meanings, symbols, questions, and answers that you would never have thought of. I daresay I will continue to read the Naomi Shihab Nye's masterpieces.
Poetic fuzzy-headed thinking As a tutor for middle-school and high-school students, I thought that this book would be an age-appropriate, poetic introduction to the complicated history of Palestine and Israel as told by a teenager. I was appalled to find that this book is very slanted toward Palestinians, portraying Israelis as either ashamed of their actions or brutal, mindless hoodlums. As a feminist, I was also irritated by the non-portrayal of the mother, who is two-dimensional at best. If you must have your students read this book, please pair it with a book written from a Jewish perspective. Or, brush up on your Middle Eastern history, so you can bring some depth and nuance to a complicated problem, and not the simplistic stereotypes as found in this novel.
A great book. I was assigned to read this book by my LA (English teacher), at first I have to say I wasn't very happy because the book looked really boring, but after I read the first couple of chapters I was really liked the book. The book Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye is about a 14-year-old girl named Liyana who finds out that all of a sudden her family is moving all the way across the ocean to Jerusalem. This is a problem because Liyana has just recently kissed on of her good friends and doesn't want to move away. I think the author Naomi Shihab Nye is a very good writer and writes about simple things in life that just happen to cause huge problems. All of her problems that she writes about in the book are realistic and believable. But what I really liked is that Naomi Shihab Nye made Liyana a believable character and that give a hint of reality in this book. During the book, Liyana goes through many changes and challenges and that's something a lot of girls can relate to and I think that's why I kept reading the book. This is a really enjoyable book, and I would highly recommend this book to someone.(L Chow)
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