Synopsis
Netta and her family have relocated temporarily from Israel to Los Angeles, and when her seventeen-year-old brother mysteriously disappears, she becomes convinced that he has ...
Claire Rosser - KLIATT
Netta and her family have only lived in the States for a few months, having moved from Israel, when Netta's older brother Adam disappears. Since the father is a scientist working on projects that would be useful to Israel's defense, and since Adam is outspokenly pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian, it seems reasonable for the family and police to assume Palestinian terrorists may have been responsible for Adam's kidnapping. Days and then weeks go by, with no word. The story works as a mystery: Netta examines Adam's computer files for clues as to who he might be meeting; flyers are put up; an appeal is made on TV; Netta goes to club meetings Adam attended at his high school, asking for any information about him. She hasn't yet made many friends herself, but she and her mother start attending a temple in their desperation and she makes friends there with a girl who is in her class at school. Oddly enough, a Palestinian boy is in her class, from Ramallah. He tries to start talking to Netta, who at first is resistant to his interest in her but he seems genuinely concerned about her missing brother and offers to help by going into chat rooms on the computer asking for any news from Palestinians about Netta's brother. Miklowitz, an experienced writer of YA novels, knows how to tell this suspenseful story well. She manages to convey the political issues separating Israelis and Palestinians without lecturing this information unfolds naturally as the story is told. She succeeds in conveying the depth of passion felt on both sides of the issues, and at the end manages an ironic twist to the plot line. YAs will definitely like this well-written mystery. KLIATT Codes: J Recommended for junior high schoolstudents. 2003, Eerdmans, 139p.,
Editorials
Children's Literature
Netta Hofman's 17 year old brother Adam is missing in Los Angeles, and she begins to think that his pro-Israel rhetoric has gotten him kidnapped by Palestinians. Netta sets out to find her brother by recreating his contacts in the "dialogue" community, both online and at school. Along the way Netta, who is Israeli, meets and reluctantly befriends Laith, a Palestinian exchange student, and they realize that despite their opposite views on statehood rights in their respective homelands, they have more in common with each other than with the Americans around them. Admirers of Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye might have hoped to have found a mirror story in this one, but will be disappointed in many respects. Although the author tries to eliminate bias by giving voice to both political views, her characters do not fully breathe life into them. Perhaps due to the crisis unfolding in the story, the characters are never fully developed. One might also feel tricked by the irony-laden ending of the story, in which the jungle of the American city is the true villain. Educators should be cautioned against using this book in curriculum due to a few peculiar factual errors. To begin, "intifada" is translated as "Palestinian underground" when it is commonly known to mean "popular uprising" or "resistance". Ramallah is said to be the "headquarters of this Palestinian underground," when actually it is the seat of the Palestinian government, to date. 2003, Eerdmans Books,— Kate Pourshariati
KLIATT
Netta and her family have only lived in the States for a few months, having moved from Israel, when Netta's older brother Adam disappears. Since the father is a scientist working on projects that would be useful to Israel's defense, and since Adam is outspokenly pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian, it seems reasonable for the family and police to assume Palestinian terrorists may have been responsible for Adam's kidnapping. Days and then weeks go by, with no word. The story works as a mystery: Netta examines Adam's computer files for clues as to who he might be meeting; flyers are put up; an appeal is made on TV; Netta goes to club meetings Adam attended at his high school, asking for any information about him. She hasn't yet made many friends herself, but she and her mother start attending a temple in their desperation and she makes friends there with a girl who is in her class at school. Oddly enough, a Palestinian boy is in her class, from Ramallah. He tries to start talking to Netta, who at first is resistant to his interest in her—but he seems genuinely concerned about her missing brother and offers to help by going into chat rooms on the computer asking for any news from Palestinians about Netta's brother. Miklowitz, an experienced writer of YA novels, knows how to tell this suspenseful story well. She manages to convey the political issues separating Israelis and Palestinians without lecturing—this information unfolds naturally as the story is told. She succeeds in conveying the depth of passion felt on both sides of the issues, and at the end manages an ironic twist to the plot line. YAs will definitely like this well-written mystery. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high schoolstudents. 2003, Eerdmans, 139p.,— Claire Rosser