Judy Faris

Multicultural lit

Maymester 2003

 

 

Young Adult Novel

 

Habibi

Nye, Naomi Shihab. Habibi. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, New York: 1997.

 

About the book

Fourteen-year-old Liyana Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village to live in the birthplace of Liyana’s father. Liyana is thrust into a culture she knows little about. Always in the background is the unease and sometimes violence in the city of Jerusalem.

 

Reviews

 

Awards

 

 

 

About the author

 Naomi Shihab Nye is a poet, essayist, children's author and songwriter. She was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother and grew up in St. Louis, Jerusalem and San Antonio. Nye has worked for 28 years as a visiting writer in schools at all levels and was a Guggenheim Fellow for 1997 and 1998, and Wittner Bynner Fellow (Library of Congress) for 2000. She has received, among other honors, a Lavan Award from the Academy of American Poets, four Pushcart Prizes and numerous awards and citations for her children's literature including two Jane Addams Children's Book Awards.

She is a regular columnist for Organica, and her work has been presented on NPR on such shows as A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac. She has been featured on two PBS poetry specials: The Language of Life with Bill Moyers and The United States of Poetry.

Naomi Shihab Nye is the author of more than twenty volumes. Her books include 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, and Fuel (poems); Never in a Hurry (a collection of essays); Habibi (a novel for young readers); and Lullaby Raft (a picture book). Forthcoming are a picture book, Baby Radar; a novel for teens, Florrie Will Do It; and an anthology for teens of Texas art and poetry.

Naomi Shihab Nye currently lives in San Antonio with her husband, photographer Michael Nye, and their teenage son.

 (author information from http://www.barclayagency.com/nye.html)

 

Before reading activity

Discussion Questions

Liyana’s father immigrated to America from Palestine. Liyana lived in Palestine for a year after having grown up as an American. How do you think each felt coming to a new place? Write in your journal about a time when you felt uncomfortable because you were new to a place. This might be the first day of school or perhaps a time you moved. 

The novel is set in Jerusalem. Go to this website to see some sites that Liyana might have seen.

Pictures of Jerusalem

·          http://www.greatmirror.com/index.cfm

Views of the Dead Sea, the spring at Ein Gedi, and the now almost sacred Masada.

·        http://www.greatmirror.com/index.cfm?countryid=197&chapterid=204&picturesize=medium

When Liyana and the family went to the Dead Sea they met Bedouins. Here are some pictures and information about the Bedouin way of life

·        http://www.artnetwork.com/Melitta/Bedouins/about.html

These websites will help you understand about the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis

After Reading Activity

Discussion questions

Respond in your journal to one of these discussion questions

·        How will Liyana grow up differently in Jerusalem than in St. Louis?

·        How was Jerusalem different than she expected?

Webquest

You will investigate this conflict from one of four points-of-view and report your findings back to the larger group by constructing a position statement based on questions posed to the position you choose: Israel, Palestine, Journalist, United Nations.

Webquest on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict http://www.ombuds.org/cyberweek2002/webquest.html