The Book of Trees

Canadian Literature

"The novel's open-ended resolution and its portrayal of a strong, critical thinker in Mia do promise a positive future for the character...The well-told narrative and the argument that critical thinking leads to compassion and just action towards others make this novel an attractive choice for young adults."

Teen Services Librarian Kirsten Anderson

"Very eye-opening The Book of Trees is a stand-out in Canadian Jewish literature for teens."

Puget Sound Council for Reviewing Children's Media

"Teenage girls especially will relate to Mia's self-awareness, independence, and strength, and will appreciate her attempts to find her place in an increasingly complicated adult world. Fans of other quietly contemplative, spiritually-grounded stories will enjoy the questions that Lieberman raises about faith, belonging, family, and finding one's purpose."

CM Magazine

"Well-balanced in exploring issues of faith and humanity in the Israel Palestine conflict through its Canadian teen protagonist Recommended."

Booklist

"[A] realistic, sensitively drawn story of one teen's tumultuous, coming-of-age search for faith, cultural identity, and grown-up love."

Tri State YA Book Review Committee

"The book is sure to spark controversy, but the questions raised are valid if peace is to occur...Recommended where free thinking is tolerated...This is a book that will spark good discussion."

Quill & Quire

"Lieberman's directness is refreshing."

Times & Transcript

"Food for thought that will resonate with young readers trying to understand why a country created as a haven after the Holocaust treats many of its inhabitants with so little respect."

Canadian Children's Book News

"A complex and thought-provoking book about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, through the fresh eyes of a Canadian teenager. Mia is a fascinating character, and an open book....More than just a book about a conflicted teenager, there are deep and important themes about social justice and equal treatment of all peoples...A great book for discussion to support a History or World Issues class."

Resource Links

"Explores the problems between Israelis and Palestinians and tries to give voice to both sides. Lieberman uses specific examples in history to explain the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and their response with terrorism The quest for Mia to match her heart and faith with her fear of the truth is appealing to follow. The setting was richly described, letting the reader feel Israel and the need to see it firsthand We know Mia's heart before she does, but [the plot] is sweet nonetheless."

VOYA - Jonatha Basye

"What we all need is a new Jerusalem; what we need is to start over again." Mia is looking for a fresh start. Her life has felt upside down for a while now, and she is turning to her heritage for guidance. Mia's search for self-awareness takes her to Jerusalem, the country of her Jewish ancestors. She believes that immersing herself in the Jewish faith will somehow make her complete. Mia longs for a sense of spiritualism—of being connected to something greater than herself. Her classes at the yeshiva, or seminary, give her no indication of why Jews must follow certain laws. Her trips to the Wailing Wall, the center of Jewish faith, instill no feeling of being closer to God. If anything, He is further away from her now than ever. Mia wants to explore the beautiful desert city of Jerusalem and discover her own truth. The city calls to Mia, and her resolve is waning. Is Mia strong enough to accept the answers that she will uncover on her journey? The Book of Trees is poignant, thought-provoking, and haunting at times. When Mia discovers the truth behind the Jewish National Fund trees and the places they have been planted, she is confused, horrified. How could a people who constantly discuss the power of peace inflict so much pain and suffering? Leiberman's story raises many questions, both religious and political. The reader will take this journey of self-discovery with Mia and may marvel or cower under its weight. Either way, this is a story that demands to be read, for so many different reasons. Reviewer: Jonatha Basye

VOYA - Christine Catlin

In a time when teens have little patience for heavy ramblings and undefined plots, this book would be of little interest or appeal. Though Lieberman paints an intriguing setting in the middle of the Palestinian conflict in Jerusalem, she tends to drown the readers with excessive details. At the same time, I found the protagonist, a confused teenager named Mia, to be a negative role model, shamelessly talking about past indiscretions. Reviewer: Christine Catlin, Teen Reviewer

Children's Literature - Lois Rubin Gross

Mia Quinn, the narrator and focus of this book, is searching for stability and spirituality. The child of a nominally Jewish mother and a footloose Christian father, Mia plunges into Orthodox Judaism as a B'al tshuvah, a reborn Jew. Prior to this experience, Mia's principal connection to Judaism are the National Jewish Fund trees that her grandmother donates to Israel in her name. Mia is immature and quixotic and it is abundantly clear that the structured life of a Jerusalem yeshiva will be a bad fit for her. She chafes at the modest clothes, the religious instruction; and the concept that for Orthodox girls, the highest calling is an arranged marriage. Her attitude toward the yeshiva's program is so disrespectful that it is not clear why the school retained her. The ultimate example of her juvenile behavior is when she gives a (religious) bride-to-be edible underwear as a shower gift. Meanwhile, while exploring forbidden parts of Jerusalem, Mia meets a North American boy, Andrew, with whom she forms an unsanctioned friendship. Andrew awakens Mia to the plight of Israeli Palestinians. Mia begins to view the NJF trees as a cover-up of Israel's "scorched Earth" policy. The problem is that Mia is uneducated and has no historical context of Jewish or Israeli history. Her sympathy for the Palestinians is simplistic. Mia's occasional bursts of rough language and her sexual activity make this book a mature teen's choice. Her narrow vision of one of the world's most complex political quagmires contributes little to a thoughtful solution to the situation. Reviewer: Lois Rubin Gross

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—Tired of her life of clubbing and singing in a band, Mia Quinn turns to Judaism to find direction and earns a scholarship to a girls' seminary in Jerusalem. But when she doesn't fit in and is uninspired by her classes, she begins to explore the city, struggling to make sense of the intense political situation. She befriends Andrew, an American street performer, and he soon becomes her confidant and romantic interest. After reading a book about the displacement of Arabs from Israel in 1948 and witnessing a bus bombing, Mia leaves the seminary, becomes sexually involved with Andrew, and joins the cause to rebuild Palestinian homes. While it is understandable that an inquisitive teenager would refuse to accept everything that she is taught, and Mia's decision to leave the school (and the confines of Orthodox Judaism) is inevitable, it doesn't make sense that she would so readily accept everything she reads in one small paperback and believe everything that she hears from Andrew's friends. Mia comments: "I wanted to untangle who was right or wrong, but I didn't have the whole story." Unfortunately, with no positive adults (or even better-informed young adults) to help her sort through her complicated questions, Lieberman fails to provide readers with even a small part of the whole story. The lack of historical background information, balance, and perspective makes it difficult to recommend this book. Sarah Glidden's How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less (Vertigo, 2010) and Marc Aronson's Unsettled: The Problem of Loving Israel (S & S, 2008) do a much better job of providing a context for exploring the complicated, highly charged issues surrounding the Israeli-Arab conflict.—Rachel Kamin, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, Highland Park, IL

Kirkus Reviews

A 17-year-old has a shallow religious epiphany followed by an equally shallow retreat from religion and political awakening. In the old days, Mia repeatedly assures us, she only wanted "to get high, make music and have sex." Now she's studying at a Jerusalem yeshiva; hoping for a spiritual reawakening, Mia has blindly decided she'll find it in Orthodox Judaism. Unfortunately, she connects neither with her classmates nor their religious or political beliefs. The more she learns about the ugly creation of Israel's national myth of a previously empty land being made green, the more barren she finds Orthodox Judaism. Her political self-education gets tangled up with her conviction that she is "sick of wearing ugly clothes," her disinterest in yeshiva studies and her lust for Andrew, the sexy guitar bum she meets in the streets of Jerusalem. The issues are vitally important, but the heroine's facile acceptance of a hot boy's pacifism is hardly convincing, the straw-man yeshiva students diminish the painful political realities and Mia just isn't likable enough to carry the tale. (Fiction. 12-13)