Habibi

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1999. Habibi. New York, NY: Simon Pulse. ISBN 0689285234 (pbk).

PLOT SUMMARY
Life for Liyana Abboud was changing, not only did she just have her first kiss but she soon finds out that her family will be moving across the world. Liyana and her family move from St. Louis to her father’s homeland in a small village outside of Jerusalem. When they land in this new country, Liyana suffers from culture shock. She could no longer wear her “short shorts”, kiss boys and everything was much more primitive. How was she going to survive?

Liyana’s adventurous spirit leads her to explore the language, customs and politics of the differing cultures. As she starts to warm up to the country she opens up and let’s her grandmother “Sitti” share more of the history of her beloved country. Liyana’s heart soon takes a leap when she meets a boy in town, his name was Omer. She soon discovers that Omer speaks Hebrew and is from the Jewish side of town and associating is taboo. But, Omer is different he has an open heart and mind. It is with the free spirit of Liyana and Omer’s open mind that we are left with the hope of repair to this spiritual land.

Critical Analysis
Naomi Shihab Nye brings readers a charming, celebration of young love that has been wrapped delicately around tough historical issues. Her story has a multi story lines; one of a teenager coming of age, a historical look at the Jewish and Arab tensions, and one of character that is discovering who she by the powerful use of words. Liyana’s day by day account of her new life in a foreign land will captivate her young readers. Children will be able to digest the complicated history between the Arab/Jewish conflicts.

Cultural Markers are present in the dialogue with phrases for example that help explain the title of the book “Habibi , meaning darling or Habibti, the feminine term for darling”. Nye describes authentic spices “oregano, mint, sumac and thyme” that are gathered by the villagers and how the tables were filled with “olives, purple marninated turnips, plates of baba ghanouj and hummus, hot flat breads.” She even informs the reader of how they make traditional bread “Sitti motioned for Poppy and Liyana toward the mounded oven called a taboon” Naomi Shihab Nye helps show cultural images to the reader by explaining how traditionally in some cultures they ask for hands in marriage or the sounds that some of the culture gestures. “Sitti suddenly through her head back, rolled her tongue high up in her mouth, and began trilling wildly.” Nye has Poppy explain that this is “her traditional cry of an announcement that is used in weddings and funerals”

Nye is able to carrying off this difficult historical tale because of her strong characters. Liyana starts off as a uncomfortable foreigner in her new land, but later grows into a passionate, patriot for peace. She also portrays this through Poppy , the physician who returns to his homeland to help his people and also in Omer who is Jewish and wants to reach out and learn about the Arab countryside. These valiant characters will steal the hearts of readers. Reader’s will enjoy finding the title to each new chapter with a poetic type greeting that helps transition the reader into the next chapter.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Kirkus- “The sights, sounds, and smells of Jerusalem drift through the pages and readers glean a sense of current Palestinian-Israeli relations and the region's troubled history.”

Booklist - “The story is steeped in detail about the place and cultures: food, geography, history, shopping, schools, languages, religions, etc..”

Other Books by Naomi Shihab Nye
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Sitti’s Secret. ISBN 97800276846055.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. The space between our footsteps: poems and paintings from the Middle East. ISBN 9780689812330.