"Habibi" is the story about a 14 year old girl named Liyana Abboud who after experiencing her first kiss, is uprooted with her family, by choice, and moved to Jerusalem, her father's birthplace. Here Liyana not only has to meet new friends, learn a new language, and acquire new customs, but additionally, she experiences first hand the conflicting history and current day situation that her father always spoke to her about: the tension between the Jewish people and the Arabic people living in the same vicinity. Having read Habibi for one of my college classes focused on the teaching of reading, I really did enjoy this novel, and could certainly see myself using it in my future classroom. I personally had a hard time initially getting started with the book, but after the first few chapters, I couldn't put it down! The story is very interesting, and written extremely well with some parts making you laugh, while others make you cry. The overall message of the book that Nye portrayed - if you want peace, instead of just talking about how wonderful peace would be, let's do something about it! - is extremely uplifting and would work well in a school setting. With the novel being prevalent to many of today's world issues, I feel as though this is a great way to connect literature and political news and history into the classroom. My only complaint, along with my colleagues, about the novel is that a decent amount of background knowledge is needed to understand portions of the book, but this isn't necessarily a bad component, just something that people need to be aware of before delving into the novel. If one were to teach this novel, I would strongly recommend teaching the background story of the Arab-Israeli conflict to better help students understand portions of the story. Additionally, the ending of the story did not really satisfy me; I was interested to continue unraveling the story of Liyana, her family, and Omer (her Jewish love interest) and wasn't ready for it to be completed. With all that being said, however, I would recommend this book for any classroom library. Its message is positive and is a great way to incorporate diversity in literature into your classroom.
B-Project Book Review: Extra Review for A Qualification Seventeen-year old Mia’s life changed forever in a matter of seconds. On a snowy day in Oregon, Mia and her family decide to enjoy the day off and go for a drive. However, amongst their travels, her family is involved in a terrible car accident. With no memory of the accident, Mia awakes in a ditch to soon discover the terrible impact on her family and herself, as she has an out-of-body experience when she finds herself in the ditch severely hurt. As she watches herself being taken away from the scene, Mia begins to question the current state she is in, and when she later discovers that she has to make the choice to leave the world or stay, the questions pile up. Does she stay for the people who are still here and for her passion and pursuit of music, or does she leave the world in search for her immediate loved ones? As Mia tells the story from a coma-state, she reflects on the reasons for this tug-of-war dilemma, and attempts to make sense of both of her life-altering choices of living or dying. I absolutely loved this novel as I could not put it down from the moment I started it. Foreman is an excellent writer and really has a way with words that captivates readers. The story of Mia and her life experiences and memories with her family are heart-warming, funny, and are easy to relate to, which in the scheme of a darker theme, is necessary for Mia and the reader of this novel to reflect on. Overall, I would rank this as one of my favorite novels. Although there are some elements to the novel that could be seen as skeptical attributes in terms of appropriate audience, such as the use of swearing and some mention of mature situations, I do believe this book is beneficial to have on school bookshelves for the novel's overall message of the power of hope, love, and family. In a time such as high school when such subjects can seem blurry and nonexistent for students, it is important to showcase powerful examples of these elements through rich and captivating literature. It also provides a sense of hope in seemingly hopeless situations, something that all students need to be able to relate to; that things do get better. If I Stay does this wonderfully. Five Stars!
B-Project Book Review: More Detailed Review for A Qualification After waking up from an expected to be simple and harmless surgery, fourteen-year old David Small realizes that this trouble-free surgery, according to his mother and father, actually has made him figuratively and literally speechless, vocal cord-less, and angry. No one had told him that this “simple” surgery actually was done because he had cancer that could have led to his death; he just assumed and was told it was just another protocol to make him well again, since being sick was a common trait of David’s life. This stunning memoir told as a graphic novel highlights David Small's life as a boy living in a dysfunctional family where he often became the target for his parents' lashing out, and showcases his journey of coping with the fact that his parents hid something from him that was so crucial to his well-being, thinking they were doing David a favor. Stitches beautifully and vividly draws out the troubling childhood David experiences and the repercussions of his parents’ choices for his life, but holds a powerful message of identity that anyone can learn from and relate to.
When first reading this novel, I was mainly concerned with the fact that it was supposedly geared towards young adolescents, because with heavier and more mature themes presented quite frequently throughout the novel, I was not sure if this should be the case. However, after doing a little research, I discovered that even though this novel has been awarded as a young adolescent novel, Small's intentional audience for this novel was geared toward adults. With that being said, I do believe you could present this graphic novel within a high school setting, but only for a selected group of students that could handled the mature concepts that are found within this haunting memoir.
Personally for me, when I first read this novel, I was not sure how I felt about it; I finished it thinking that it was not what I was expecting it to be, and that it was fairly decent. However, after reading it a second time and at a slower pace, I was really able to interpret Small's artistic work and discover a deeper meaning behind each piece, utilizing a very fitting black-and-white water color scheme to depict his story. With a slower pace and more thoughtful reading endeavor, I was able to appreciate this novel and it's overall message that although people may face abuse or any detrimental treatment as a child, this does not define the person they are. In conclusion, I highly recommend that for anyone who reads this novel to read it more than once; you will get so much more out of it if you do.
This novel, although specified for a more mature audience, would be extremely valuable to hold in a classroom for those who are ready to read it. Many themes are presented in this novel such as "Technology,” “Illness,” “Identity,” “Sexuality,” and “Power.” Additionally, because it is in fact a graphic novel, this novel will attract a whole new audience of readers that may not normally find enjoyment in reading or who find difficulty in reading novels with heavy and deep themes, such as the male population and English Language Learners. This novel has the potential to lead to some deep discussions of expression and how expression can come about through different artistic mediums. Also, Stitches allows for students to make deep personal connections. The fact that David grows up dealing with cruel family members is a theme that occurs in the classic novel and film Cinderella, which almost all students could connect with. This memoir would also showcase to students a different way that nonfiction can be represented. Stitches allows for the reader to experience a different first person point of view; told from the eyes of an abused child, some students will unfortunately be greatly able to connect to this treatment on a personal level, but all students can connect to this on an emotional level. At the end of the story, David accepts his past, forgives those who wronged him, and moves forward, acting as great connection for individuals trying to define themselves as people and represents the fact that you are the one to choose your own life and destiny.
Small's childhood story is peculiar, one that we do not come across too often or at least hear about very often. The fact that Small is here today saying "It's okay, I'm okay" is extremely moving and powerful. Overall, I would rank this as one of my favorite novels. Small really portrays in his memoir the power of literature and art, which is extremely admirable. Five stars!
YA Novel Review
"Habibi" is the story about a 14 year old girl named Liyana Abboud who after experiencing her first kiss, is uprooted with her family, by choice, and moved to Jerusalem, her father's birthplace. Here Liyana not only has to meet new friends, learn a new language, and acquire new customs, but additionally, she experiences first hand the conflicting history and current day situation that her father always spoke to her about: the tension between the Jewish people and the Arabic people living in the same vicinity.
Having read Habibi for one of my college classes focused on the teaching of reading, I really did enjoy this novel, and could certainly see myself using it in my future classroom. I personally had a hard time initially getting started with the book, but after the first few chapters, I couldn't put it down! The story is very interesting, and written extremely well with some parts making you laugh, while others make you cry. The overall message of the book that Nye portrayed - if you want peace, instead of just talking about how wonderful peace would be, let's do something about it! - is extremely uplifting and would work well in a school setting.
With the novel being prevalent to many of today's world issues, I feel as though this is a great way to connect literature and political news and history into the classroom. My only complaint, along with my colleagues, about the novel is that a decent amount of background knowledge is needed to understand portions of the book, but this isn't necessarily a bad component, just something that people need to be aware of before delving into the novel. If one were to teach this novel, I would strongly recommend teaching the background story of the Arab-Israeli conflict to better help students understand portions of the story. Additionally, the ending of the story did not really satisfy me; I was interested to continue unraveling the story of Liyana, her family, and Omer (her Jewish love interest) and wasn't ready for it to be completed. With all that being said, however, I would recommend this book for any classroom library. Its message is positive and is a great way to incorporate diversity in literature into your classroom.
B-Project Book Review:
Extra Review for A Qualification
Seventeen-year old Mia’s life changed forever in a matter of seconds. On a snowy day in Oregon, Mia and her family decide to enjoy the day off and go for a drive. However, amongst their travels, her family is involved in a terrible car accident. With no memory of the accident, Mia awakes in a ditch to soon discover the terrible impact on her family and herself, as she has an out-of-body experience when she finds herself in the ditch severely hurt. As she watches herself being taken away from the scene, Mia begins to question the current state she is in, and when she later discovers that she has to make the choice to leave the world or stay, the questions pile up. Does she stay for the people who are still here and for her passion and pursuit of music, or does she leave the world in search for her immediate loved ones? As Mia tells the story from a coma-state, she reflects on the reasons for this tug-of-war dilemma, and attempts to make sense of both of her life-altering choices of living or dying.
I absolutely loved this novel as I could not put it down from the moment I started it. Foreman is an excellent writer and really has a way with words that captivates readers. The story of Mia and her life experiences and memories with her family are heart-warming, funny, and are easy to relate to, which in the scheme of a darker theme, is necessary for Mia and the reader of this novel to reflect on. Overall, I would rank this as one of my favorite novels.
Although there are some elements to the novel that could be seen as skeptical attributes in terms of appropriate audience, such as the use of swearing and some mention of mature situations, I do believe this book is beneficial to have on school bookshelves for the novel's overall message of the power of hope, love, and family. In a time such as high school when such subjects can seem blurry and nonexistent for students, it is important to showcase powerful examples of these elements through rich and captivating literature. It also provides a sense of hope in seemingly hopeless situations, something that all students need to be able to relate to; that things do get better. If I Stay does this wonderfully. Five Stars!
B-Project Book Review:
More Detailed Review for A Qualification
After wak
When first reading this novel, I was mainly concerned with the fact that it was supposedly geared towards young adolescents, because with heavier and more mature themes presented quite frequently throughout the novel, I was not sure if this should be the case. However, after doing a little research, I discovered that even though this novel has been awarded as a young adolescent novel, Small's intentional audience for this novel was geared toward adults. With that being said, I do believe you could present this graphic novel within a high school setting, but only for a selected group of students that could handled the mature concepts that are found within this haunting memoir.
Personally for me, when I first read this novel, I was not sure how I felt about it; I finished it thinking that it was not what I was expecting it to be, and that it was fairly decent. However, after reading it a second time and at a slower pace, I was really able to interpret Small's artistic work and discover a deeper meaning behind each piece, utilizing a very fitting black-and-white water color scheme to depict his story. With a slower pace and more thoughtful reading endeavor, I was able to appreciate this novel and it's overall message that although people may face abuse or any detrimental treatment as a child, this does not define the person they are. In conclusion, I highly recommend that for anyone who reads this novel to read it more than once; you will get so much more out of it if you do.
This novel, although specified for a more mature audience, would be extremely valuable to hold in a classroom for those who are ready to read it. Many themes are presented in this novel such as "Technology,” “Illness,” “Identity,” “Sexuality,” and “Power.” Additionally, because it is in fact a graphic novel, this novel will attract a whole new audience of readers that may not normally find enjoyment in reading or who find difficulty in reading novels with heavy and deep themes, such as the male population and English Language Learners. This novel has the potential to lead to some deep discussions of expression and how expression can come about through different artistic mediums. Also, Stitches allows for students to make deep personal connections. The fact that David grows up dealing with cruel family members is a theme that occurs in the classic novel and film Cinderella, which almost all students could connect with. This memoir would also showcase to students a different way that nonfiction can be represented. Stitches allows for the reader to experience a different first person point of view; told from the eyes of an abused child, some students will unfortunately be greatly able to connect to this treatment on a personal level, but all students can connect to this on an emotional level. At the end of the story, David accepts his past, forgives those who wronged him, and moves forward, acting as great connection for individuals trying to define themselves as people and represents the fact that you are the one to choose your own life and destiny.
Small's childhood story is peculiar, one that we do not come across too often or at least hear about very often. The fact that Small is here today saying "It's okay, I'm okay" is extremely moving and powerful. Overall, I would rank this as one of my favorite novels. Small really portrays in his memoir the power of literature and art, which is extremely admirable. Five stars!