Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Where the Streets Had a Name Reviews

• 
  Ahmed

  
  
  نسيم بلادنا للجسم منعش ... بدون الوطن إقنع يوم ما اتعيش
  بيبكى الطير إذا بنطرد من عش ... فكيف الوطن اللى لو أصحاب ؟
  
  يمكن العمل بلغته الأصليه ينتمى إلى كتب الأطفال لكن عندما قرأته باللغه العربيه لم أجده كذلك على الأطلاق. فقد وجدته كعادة الأدب (اللى بيحكى عن فلسطين )مؤلم جدا .
  
  البيتين اللى فى أول كلامى انشدتهم الجدة لحفيدتها عندما عادت من مهمه طفوليه انتحاريه
  
  الجده اللى هى أجمل شخصيات الروايه على الإطلاق , اللى غالبا موجوده فى كل بيت عربى ولكن فى فلسطين يختلف الوضع , فإذا كان البيت العربى يواجه مصاعب حياتيه مختلفه نظراً لمأساة كونه عربى فإن الفلسطينى يختلف ان له من النصيب إثنين: ماساة عروبته ومأساة الإحتلال.
  
  أنا لا أعرف كم كان عمر الكاتبه عند كتابة هذا العمل وان كنت أعرف صغر سنها ولكن مهما كان عمرها فإنها نجحت فى أن تتقمص دور الأطفال وتقدمهم بطريقه ناجحه . طريقه مضحكه عند اللزوم رغم الألم فى ثنايا العمل مغالب اعمال الفلسطينين.
  
  من المؤكد ان الكاتبه على علم عميق بالوضع المجتمعى الفلسطينى رغم انها مولوده فى أستراليا وغالبا يرجع هذا الفضل لأبيها الفلسطينى.
  رغم أن العمل مترجم إلا أن اللغه رائعه وسهله وبسيطه .
  
  لا أستطيع أن أمحى مشاهد الجده العجوز من مخيلتى ومن وجهة نظرى هذا ما أبدعت فيه الكاتبه بحق وهذه الشخصيه هى أفضل شخصيات العمل رغم ابداعها فى تصوير باقى الشخصيات وخاصة بطلة العمل (المشوهة فى وجهها بأثر عميق مثّل لها ألم دائم) كذلك شخصية رفيق دربها (سامى) ذو الشخصيه القويه (اللمضه)فى تعامله مع الغير وخاصة الأكبر منه وألمه الدفين لإعتقال ابيه من قِبل قوات الاحتلال.
  
  فى المجمل عمل رائع من ناحية الشخصيات .
  جيد من ناحية اللغه.
  عظيم من ناحية الأحداث وخاصة الطفوليه منها.
  الوصف والتشبيهات فلسطينيه جدا .
  
  أتفهم جدا إن قرأ فلسطينى هذا العمل ولم يعجبه : ففى النهايه أنا مجرد مصرى أشاهد المشهد الخارجى وأبدى تعاطفه ولم أنكوى بن��ر الإحتلال (القذر) مثل أخى الفلسطينى الذى هو أكثر منى درايه بواقع مجتمع ووقائع الاحتلال التى قد تفشل الكاتبه فى تصويره نتيجة للعزلة الطبيعيه المفروضه عليه (أقصد بالعزلة وجودها فى مجتمع بعيد عن مجتمعها الأم )
  
  تبقى الفقرات الأخيرة فى العمل هى الأكثر تأثيرا وألما بالنسبه لى وفيها :
  ... عمرى ثلاث عشرة سنة وأعرف معنى الدم.أعرف ماذا يعنى أن نفقد الأحيه.أعرف رائحة الجثه.أعرف شكل الجسم يُسوّى تحت دبّابه . أعرف سُحب التراب والغبار التى يخلّفها بلدوزر مسعور.سوف يتم الانتهاء من الجدار قريبا .سوف تُهجَر أجزاء كامله من بيت لحم . سوف تغلق الأعمال ,تُهجر البيوت,تخلو الشوارع,تقسم المدارس إلى نصفين.إننى أعيش فى سجن مفتوح.
  
  ولكننى لن أعيش فى يأس . لأن عمرى ثلاث عشرة سنه وهذا ما أعرفه أيضا..
  إنه طالما كانت هناك حياة سوف يكون هناك حب.إننى سوف أتعلم ان أحب ّ المرآة بكل تأكيد مثلما تعلمت أن أفكّر فى مايسه وابتسم. إن الماضى يمكن أن يعذّب ويشفى على السواء.إننى سأفعل أكثر من مجرّد البقاء.أننا جميعا فى النهايه لسنا سوى مخلوقات بشريه تضحك نفس الضحكه , وإن العالم يوما ما سوف يُدرك أننا ببساطه نريد أن نعيش كشعب حرّ,له أمل وكرامه وهدف , هذا هو كل شئ )))
  عمل عظيم فعلا. أنصح الجميع بالاطلاع عليه .
• 
  Steph

  The Middle East is such a rare setting to see in books for teenagers, and I found this to be such an interesting, intelligent and thought-provoking book that also managed to be funny, despite such heavy content. Hayaat was a likeable protagonist, and I really felt as I was reading her need to save her grandmother.
  
  I really enjoyed one of Randa Abdel-Fattah's earlier novels Does My Head Look Big In This?, which I think is a really wonderful book, but it is dramatically different from Where the streets had a name which seems to me a more mature novel, even though the central character is younger. It's such a real novel; to me, it felt as Hayaat and her family could really exist. There is so much about politics and history in this book, but it never seems forced. It's fascinating and heart-breaking at once.
  
  Where the streets had a name is definitely a book that I would love to see being studied in schools, or at least on some recommended reading lists. So often you see on the news things that are occurring in the middle east, and it's so impersonal most of the time, not really a thing you think about for more than a moment or two and I think Where the streets had a name shows the reality of life in a warzone, and it's such a touching and outstanding novel. A must-read.
• 
  Bara'a Muhammad

  من أروع الروايات التي قرأتها...و هذا أكثر موقف أحببته:
  
  
  أقول لراغب بعد أن هدأ الجميع وسادت السكينة في السيارة: " هذا الجندي لطيف أليس كذلك"
  
  
  يقول لي راغب في صوت خفيض: " يذكرني هذا الموقف بقصة قرأتها في طفولتي هل تريدين أن أحكيها يا حياة؟ " عندما رآني اومئ استمر في حكايته: " كان يا ما كان، كان هناك صياد خرج إلى الغابة ليصطاد. وفي الغابة رأى شجرة تمتلئ بالطيور فصوب بندقيته ناحيتها فأصاب الكثيرين، بعض الطيور مات وبعضها أصيب. بدأ الصياد في التقاط الطيور الميتة وقتل الطيور المصابة بسكينه.
  
  و أثناء انهماكه في هذا العمل ترقرقت بضع قطرات من الدموع في عينيه بسبب برودة الجو. فقال الطائر: "هذا الصياد طيب القلب. انظر إلى عينيه، فهو يبكي علينا"
  فقال له الطائر الآخر "انس عينيه وانظر إلى يديه"
• 
  Aneesah

  I might be a bit biased towards this one, because the story is set in Palestine, and I believe many of us, Muslim or not, have a soft spot for Palestine. Being a children’s book though, this was written in the eyes of 13-year-old Hayaat, and is dotted with humour and childish naivety. I also already love the Arab culture and Arabic language so I now know a few more words like dabka, the folk dance, and ya zalami, which means “oh man”, etc.
  
  But on a serious note, I believe the author’s intention was indeed to shed light on the Palestine-Israel conflict, to bring out the things we might not know or even think about: how life goes on during war (people have weddings, children go to school, families need to go shop for groceries), the multi-religious society (Muslims, Christians, Jews), how there are good people in all religions and how prejudices and generalisations just do not work, injustice in the littlest and biggest things… And I also like how the author portrays the family in this story, in particular the grandmother-granddaughter and sister-sister relationship. Favourite quotes:
  
  "Feel as you wish; that is your right. But you will soon find that even hatred will not give you comfort. It will only make you miserable." — Sitti Zeynab
  
  "Once upon a time a fisherman went out to sea. He caught many fish and threw them into a large bucket on his boat. The fish were not yet dead, so the man decided to ease their suffering by killing them swiftly. While he worked, the cold air made his eyes water. One of the wounded fish saw this and said to another, “What a kind heart this fisherman has — see how he cries for us.” The other fish replied, “Ignore his tears and watch what he is doing with his hands.” "— Raghib
  
  "Your soul is strong, Hayaat. Do not deprive the world of your soul and heart. Justice will come when those who hope outweigh those who despair. Hope is a force that cannot be reckoned with, ya Hayaat. You will find a place for yourself in this world." — Sitti Zeynab
• 
  K.

  Trigger warnings: war and everything that goes along with it, death of a friend, PTSD.
  
  For a book intended for young adults, this is...INCREDIBLY political. It's the story of a thirteen year old Palestinian girl growing up in the West Bank. So, like, it was always going to be an incredibly political story. But at the same time, I don't think it had really occurred to me just HOW political this was going to be. It definitely doesn't paint Israel in a good light, and it's definitely pushing a Palestinian perspective, which should come as no surprise to anyone given that the author is of Palestinian descent.
  
  Most of the story takes place over a single day as the protagonist and her best friend try to make their way from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Along the way, they encounter roadblocks (literally), people on both sides who go out of their way to help, and see how the other half live.
  
  In some ways, it reminded me of The Hate U Give. The protagonist has facial scarring as the result of an incident that killed her childhood best friend, and moving through the checkpoints and seeing certain things on her journey is very triggering for her.
  
  I wanted a more definitive ending than I got, but given the political situation in which the book is set, it was pretty naive of me to expect a definitive ending. It's not my favourite of her books, but it's definitely an interesting read that stabbed me right in the feels more times than I anticipated.
• 
  Sara MostaghaC

  اسم فلسطین برای هیچکس ناآشنا نیست. ولی شاید برای خیلی از ما سوال باشد که مردم آن چگونه زندگی می کند. برای خود من همیشه سوال بود که اسرائیلی ها و عرب ها چه طور با هم زندگی می کنند. یا این که هیچکدام از سربازان اسراییلی در کارشان شک نکرده اند یا وقتی بچه ها را به گلوله می بندند هیچ حسی ندارند؟
  "جایی که خیابان ها نام داشت" یک دیدی نسبت به زندگی در فلسطین اشغالی به من داد.
  کتاب داستان دختری به نام حیات است که برای برآوردن آخرین آرزوی مادربزرگش به قدس می رود. در مسیر این سفر نویسنده کمی وضع زندگی در فلسطین زخم خورده را شرح می دهد و در فلش بک هایی، داستان غصب شدن زمین های فلسطینی ها و زندگی در اردوگاه ها را نیز تعریف می کند.
  
  پی نوشت: ایده ی نویسنده اواخر کتاب درباره ی جنگ "تو ذوق زن" بود:|
• 
  Ebthal Yusuf

  كتب زي دي هي اللي بتخليك عاوز تصرخ جامد أوي
  كأن فيه جرح كبير شبه ملتئم جواك
  وحد يحطلك فيه شوية ملح
  
  الكتاب ده مفروض انه خفيف و كوميدي زي ما مكتوب عليه
  بس ده بالنسبة لواحد مش عربي
  ممكن عشان مش هيخليه يحس بالعجز الفظيع ده أو إحساس الذل والهوان
  
    ازاي أبسط حق للإنسان يروح منه بالشكل ده؟؟
  و الاخر احنا عنصريين وكارهي السلام وأعداء للسامية وإرهابيين والكلام الأهبل ده
  بينما أي حد عنده ذرة تفكير يقدر يقولك مين الظالم ومين صاحب الحق
  
    الكتاب نفسه مستواه جيد ولكن متوسط الجودة
  الأسلوب كويس
  كان فيه بعض الحاجات الغير لائقة هدفها انك تضحك لكن انتهت بشعورك بالاشمئزاز  
  
  عجبتني الحوارات الطفولية بين حياة وسامي
  كل واحد عاوز يعمل نفسه كبير وفاهم أكتر من التاني
  
    الفكرة الرئيسية للكتاب كانت رائعة
  الطفلة اللي هدفها تجيب تراب الوطن لجدتها
  فكرة نبيلة فعلا لا تليق بتفكير طفلة طبيعية
  ولكن من قال أن أطفال فلسطين أطفال طبيعيون؟؟
  وعلي لسان البطلة :عمري ثلاثة عشر عاما وأعرف معني الدم أعرف ماذا يعني أن تفقد الأحبة أعرف رائحة الجثة أعرف شكل الجسم يسوي تحت دبابة أعرف سحب التراب والغبار التي يخلفها بلدوزر مسعور
  مواقف كتير أوي صعب تتخيلها لجان التفتيش وهدم البيوت وحظر التجوال
  
    في الواقع الكتاب ده مش كوميدي ومش خفيف بالنسبة لي علي الأقل
  حرك جوايا مشاعر كراهية و هوان وإحساس بالظلم
• 
  Raghda Elwakil

  اسلوب الرواية يعطيك شعور وكأنك تعيش احداثها.. :)
  "حياة" مراهقة تعيش في بيت لحم تذهب في مغامرة مع "سامي" للقدس عشان تحقق حلم جدتها "زينب".. ^^
  شعور كتير صعب أن تحس بالغربة في وطنك..!!
• 
  Betsy

  When I was a child I had a very vague sense of global conflicts in other countries. Because of my
  Bloom County comics I knew a bit about apartheid in South Africa. Later as a teen I heard The Cranberries sing “Zombie” and eventually learned a bit about the troubles in Northern Ireland. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict, however, had a lousy pop culture PR department. Nowhere in the whole of my childhood did I encounter anything that even remotely explained the problems there. Heck it wasn’t until college that I got an inkling of what the deal was. Even then, it was difficult for me to comprehend. Kids today don’t have it much easier (and can I tell you how depressing it is to know that the troubles that existed when I was a child remain in place for children today?). They do, however, have a little more literature at their disposal. For younger kids there are shockingly few books. For older kids and teens, there are at least memoirs like
  Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat or
  Palestine by Joe Sacco. What about the middle grade options? Historically there have been a couple chapter books covering the topic, but nothing particularly memorable comes to mind. Enter Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah. Written by the acclaimed author of the YA novel
  Does My Head Look Big in This, Abdel-Fattah wades into waters that children’s book publishers generally shy away from. Hers is the hottest of hot topics, but she handles her subject matter with dignity and great storytelling.
  
  Hayaat was beautiful once. That’s what her family would tell you. But since an accident involving the death of her best friend, she’s remained scarred and, to be blunt, scared. Hayaat lives in Bethlehem in the West Bank in 2004. Her family occupies a too small apartment and is preparing for the wedding of Hayaat’s sister Jihan. Unfortunately there are curfews to obey and constant checkpoints to pass. When Hayaat’s beloved Sitti Zeynab grows ill, Hayaat decides to put away the past and do the impossible. She will travel to her grandmother’s old home across the wall that divides the West Bank to bring some soil from in front of her old house. With her partner-in-crime Samy by her side, Hayaat reasons that the trip is attainable as it’s just a few miles. What she doesn’t count on, however, is the fact that for a Palestinian kid to make that trip, it may as well be halfway across the world. Hayaat, however, is determined and along the way she’s able to confront some of the demons from her past.
  
  In a lot of ways this book is a good old-fashioned quest novel. You have your heroine, battle scarred, sending herself into a cold cruel world to gain the impossible. That the impossible would be a simple sample of soil doesn’t take anything away from the poignancy of her intent. By her side is her faithful sidekick, and along the way she meets a variety of different people. Some are bad, some are good, and all are human. So it's a quest novel, sure, but it's also a family dynamics novel. The story does a great job of making this an accessible novel to all kids so you believe in Hayaat’s family through and through. From her overbearing mother to her silent father to her grandmother, caught up in dreams and memories. You care about these people. You desperately want a happy ending for them.
  
  Needless to say, if a person writes a book about Palestinians for kids, be it a picture book or a novel, it’s going to be considered a contentious subject. It’s easy to avoid such subjects. Most middle grade does. Abdel-Fattah is to be commended for her guts then. Though her critics will try to find fault with her depictions of Israel, Abdel-Fattah’s restraint is remarkable. There is a moment in this book when a curfew is in place and Hayaat peeks out at the streets at the Israeli soldiers patrolling there. She notes how young they are and how they must have families somewhere. That doesn’t stop her from remembering how her best friend was killed with rubber bullets, of course. Later we hear the tale from Hayaat’s grandmother of how she lost her home. When she and her husband went back, there were new residents living there. Through a translator they hear how the woman’s family died in the Holocaust and there’s that moment of feeling simultaneous pity and horror and anger. Regardless, one family has taken another family’s home which is wrong and not a difficult thing to understand. What Abdel-Fattah does is continually show that everyone in this situation is human. You’ll see similar techniques when authors write middle grade novels about Jim Crow in the American South. In those books you’ll usually find one sympathetic white person in the midst of racists. Similarly, this novel has Mali and David, two Israeli’s who object to the situation in the Middle East and have returned from their new country of residence to try and change things. Through their eyes you see that there is never a single way of thinking about something.
  
  There are a lot of things I admire about this book but it’s the humor I particularly respect. This book is chock full of situations that are not funny. Curfews are not funny. Dehumanization of citizens is not funny. But between these bad times are moments of levity. You care deeply about Hayaat and her family and the little snatches of dialogue we get between characters can be telling. At one point Hayaat’s grandmother explains to her that husband was killed by getting run over by a car shortly after understanding that he’d never be able to return to his home. Hayaat interrupts by asking if he died of a broken heart. “ ‘Yes, of course it was,’ she says, looking confused. And every other part of his body. It was a big car’.”
  
  There were a couple practical storytelling elements I would have changed, had I the power. For example, the moment when Hayaat pours the Jerusalem soil over her grandmother’s hands occurs on page 237. Yet we have a good seventy pages left to go at that point. Admittedly, there’s a lot of backstory to sum up. There’s Jihan’s wedding and the street kid that convinces Samy that he might contain the key to getting out of this life. Still, it was surprising to get past the most exciting elements of the book only to find everything was to be slowly slowly rectified. Another thing I would have included was an Author’s Note on the history of the region. The book sort of makes the assumption that kids are already aware of the history of Palestine and what it has been through. It assumes that they know why there are Israeli soldiers and checkpoints. Even a map of the region would have been important, particularly if it showed the remarkably short route Hayaat and Samy attempt to take. It would be interesting to hand this book to a kid who knew nothing about Israel/Palestine and see how much they comprehend. I suspect that this book would appeal to such kids with a yen for contemporary realistic fiction, but it would pair even better with taught units about Israel/Palestine today.
  
  Getting kids to care about children like themselves in other countries is difficult. Getting kids to care about children in countries they may not have even heard of before is even more difficult. Certainly this book pairs beautifully with Barakat’s aforementioned Tasting the Sky. Both books beautifully convey an untenable situation that cries out for resolution. Abdel-Fattah’s book fills a massive gap in collections everywhere. This is a book worth reading. Hopefully lots of folks will.
  
  For ages 9-12.
  
• 
  Ophelia

  رواية تحكي رحلة حياة و صديقها سامي المحفوفة بالمخاطر لإعتقادها بأن حفنة تراب من بلدة جدتها ستشفيها من المرض..
  
  مقطع أعجبني من الرواية..
  
  أقول لراغب بعد أن هدأ الجميع وسادت السكينة في السيارة: " هذا الجندي لطيف أليس كذلك"
  
  
  يقول لي راغب في صوت خفيض: " يذكرني هذا الموقف بقصة قرأتها في طفولتي هل تريدين أن أحكيها يا حياة؟ " عندما رآني اومئ استمر في حكايته: " كان يا ما كان، كان هناك صياد خرج إلى الغابة ليصطاد. وفي الغابة رأى شجرة تمتلئ بالطيور فصوب بندقيته ناحيتها فأصاب الكثيرين، بعض الطيور مات وبعضها أصيب. بدأ الصياد في التقاط الطيور الميتة وقتل الطيور المصابة بسكينه.
  
  و أثناء انهماكه في هذا العمل ترقرقت بضع قطرات من الدموع في عينيه بسبب برودة الجو. فقال الطائر: "هذا الصياد طيب القلب. انظر إلى عينيه، فهو يبكي علينا"
  فقال له الطائر الآخر "انس عينيه وانظر إلى يديه"
• 
  * أمامة *

  يا للْماضي حتى أن الشوارع لم تسلم منه!!ا
  لم تُتقن فن النسيان بعد!! لم تُتقن كره أرضها بعد!!ا
  وإن أتى من يزودها بمردودٍ من الأحلام، فلكم أن تتخيلو ماذا سيحدث!؛ا
  حياة" فتاة تمتلك حسا ثائراً شجاعاً في داخلها، ويبدو أنه على بساطة الرواية جعلتني أرى جميع شخصياتها كذالك
  الرواية كانت عبارة عن رحلة شيقة مشوبة بقلق ينزاحُ بعفوية
  فلا مجال فيها للتعقيد بتاتا فهي تنقل الواقع بكل دقته وبساطته وصدقه!!ا
  ليس لي سوى أن أقول: حينما تغربُ شمس الظلام عنك يا قدسُ، سأصفقُ عالياً
  فهناكَ حتما قطعٌ منها متواجدة فوق أرضكِ يا دمشقُ
• 
  Fahime

  داستان کتاب در مورد یک دختر فلسطینیه که در کرانه ی باختری ساکنه و بعد از مریض احوال شدن مادربزرگش تصمیم می گیره به قدس غربی بره و مقداری از خاک روستایی رو که مادربزرگش قبل از اشغال در اون ساکن بوده، براش بیاره. کتاب برای نوجوانان نوشته شده و مخاطب بزرگسال احتمالا لذت چندانی از خوندنش نمی بره.
  ترجمه ی کتاب چندان خوب نبود. بیشتر اوقات مشکل چندانی نداشت، اما وقتی دو نفر با هم صحبت می کردن و یا یک نفر با بقیه شوخی می کرد، ترجمه به شدت نامفهوم می شد!
  
  
• 
  بثينة العيسى

  كان ينبغي تحذيري بأنها رواية للمراهقين :)
  كانت لطيفة على أي حال.
• 
  Settare (on hiatus)

  3.5 stars rounded up to 4
  
  
  An effortlessly captivating style of writing, with the innocence of a 13-year-old protagonist is what I like about this book: makes its dark and heavy setting less intense. Being exposed to our media, which shows only bombings, destruction and conspiracy when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, makes it very hard to imagine that in the West Banks, life goes on. Tourists walk around, kids go to school, people throw weddings, dance Dabka, buy groceries and, well, live their lives. For me, the concept of acceptance among people of different ethnicities in a multi religious environment IN THE MIDDLE EAST, is very very difficult. This book is one of the best children's book I've read. War is always better described from the point of view of a child, and the author has managed to add humor and life to the sad and dark themes of the book. however, I could clearly distinguish between when Hayaat was talking and when the author herself took over, putting adult words in the mouth of a child, but there weren't many moments like this. There was a lot of history in the book but it wasn't forced, it was natural and real. Overall I enjoyed it very much and I think more kids should have the opportunity to read it. (It made me want to visit Jerusalem so badly, but that's not possible, so, never mind. Ugh.)
• 
  Lisa

  What a great idea for a book. This is about a Palestinian family living in the West Bank. They have lost their land in Jerusalem, and to add insult to injury, they are forbidden to even go there since they are now "green cards". When 13-year-old Hayatt's grandmother is rushed to the hospital, she decides to do something really special for her so she can regain her strength: she will find a way to sneak into Jerusalem and retrieve some soil from her ancestral home. Jerusalem is only 6 miles away, but for Hayatt and her friend Samy, it is a far-away and forbidden country, and indeed it is that difficult to penetrate. They face soldiers with machine guns, flying checkpoints, The Wall, and more. For these West Bankers, this is a way of life. Hayatt likens her life to being confined to an open-air prison. Along the way she meets people with all kinds of opinions on the situation in Israel, even two Israelis fighting for peace between the people. We finally find out what happened to Hayatt and it is a poignant moment. I love when I find a book like this that really has the potential to make an impact on people. A great middle-grade novel, but just as great for teens and adults of all ages. 5 stars, highly recommended.
• 
  Andrew

  Abdel-Fattah leaves her familiar subject of ethnic Australia, and explores the characters of youths living in a troubled society in the Middle East. However, this story, whilst tragic, is also very funny and uplifting, and celebrates the strength and hope that we can still gain through family, even in the harshest circumstances.
• 
  Paula Weston

  One of the hardest things to do in fiction is tackle a complex issue and still deliver an engaging story.
  
  Randa Abdel-Fattah, a Muslim of Palestinian and Egyptian heritage who grew up in Melbourne, has a strong literary track record of tackling the challenging topic of being a teenage girl of Middle Eastern descent in urban Australia.
  
  Her breakthrough first novel, Does my head look big in this?, was a witty and enjoyable story about an Australian-Palestinian Muslim who decides to wear the hijab, and the courage it takes to display her faith.
  
  Her follow up, Ten things I hate about me, was more about cultural identity (rather than religious), in which a Lebanese teenager in Sydney goes to great lengths to hide her ethnicity from her friends.
  
  Now, Abdel-Fattah has gone a step further, using her gifts as a storyteller to present a Palestinian perspective on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
  
  Where the streets had a name features the likable narrative voice of Hayaat, a teenage girl whose face is scarred from an event we don’t fully understand until almost the end of the novel.
  
  Hayaat is like most teenagers. She wants to be loved and accepted. She wants her family to be safe. She’s learned to live with the restrictions and curfews of the occupation and the bitterness of those around her who have lost homes and land to the Israelis.
  
  Hayaat has no desire to cause trouble, but when her beloved grandmother, Sitti Zeynab, falls ill, Hayaat is convinced the only thing to lift her spirits will be to touch the soil of her village again. So she and her best friend Samy decide to go themselves, to bring back a jar of the precious dirt.
  
  The trouble is, Sitti Zeynab’s village is on the other side of the giant concrete wall built by the Israelis to keep them separate from the West Bank Palestinians. What should only be a trip of a few miles will take Hayaat and Sami a full day, as they negotiate check points, roadblocks, unreliable public transport and Israeli soldiers.
  
  Given the polemic nature of the Israeli-Palestinian situation itself, it’s a near impossible task to write a story about it with polarising people. But while the Abdel-Fattah’s sympathies lie with the non-violent men, women and children suffering under the occupation, she avoids the trap of painting a simple picture of villains and heroes.
  
  This is a human story. It’s an attempt to show the human face of the occupation – on both sides of the wall. Both sides fear and mistrust the other, but – as this novel quietly suggests – there is hope on both sides too.
  
  Hayaat is a Muslim, yet her best friend Samy is Christian and the difference in their faith appears to have very little significance to them or their community: they are all Palestinian and all living under occupation. And, interestingly, the men and women who help Hayaat and Samy the most during their journey (probably because they have the freedom to so) are Israelis, who – openly or otherwise – oppose the occupation.
  
  Abdel-Fattah’s connection to the people and the place in this story allows her to capture the humour, spirit and humanity of a people whose plight is frequently over-shadowed by the violence perpetrated by a few, but ascribed to all.
  
  Sitti, who has suffered the most in Hayaat’s family, also has the greatest capacity to laugh at the situation of her people.
  
  To Hayaat’s sister, who is dieting in the lead-up to her wedding: “A little meat on a woman is nice. Do you want people to look at your on your wedding day and think you had a holiday in Gaza?”
  
  But Sitti also carries the grief of a nation without a status. To the Israeli family who claimed her home as her own: “I’m sorry for what happened to your family and your people, but why must we be punished?”
  
  And finally, it is Sitti who offers her granddaughter a glimmer of hope that one day the Israelis and Palestinians may find a way to live together: “Justice will come when those who hope outweigh those who despair. Hope is a force that cannot be reckoned with, ya Hayaat.”
• 
  Kholoud Diab

  إن كنت فلسطينياً
  ستعلم ما معنى أن تعيش بغربة وأنتَ في وطنك
  معنى أن يمنعك من سرق منك وطنك من الوصول إلى قريتك
  وأرضك
  أن تُحرم من تقبيل تراب وطنك أو حتى الحصول عليه
  أن يُهدم بيتك أمامك ولا تملك القوة لتمنع حدوث ذلك
  أن يفصل بين كل بلد بضع الكيلومترات فقط
  ولكن لا يمكنك الوصول إلا بعد المرور بمئات نقاط التفتيش والحواجز
  أن يكون جسدك في مكان وقلبك وروحك تنتمي لمكان آخر
  معنى أن ترمي الدنيا همومها كلها عليك
  وتجعل من المكان الذي أنت توجد فيه جهنم
  إلا أنك تقاوم كل ذلك وتبتسم
  ورغم كل ذلك فلسطينيتك تمنعك من محو كل تلك الذكريات
  الذكريات كلها تلك المؤلمة والموجعة هي الوحيدة التي تبقى عالقة في الذهن وحتى لو أصابه المرض تبقى صورة الوطن..
  فكيف ل "حياة" التي تبلغ من العمر ثلاث عشرة سنة
  أن تعرف معنى أن تفقد أحبتها دون لقاء أو تعرف رائحة الجثة كيف تكون ومعنى الدم والحواجز وهدّم البيوت وحظر التجوال وشكل الجسم تحت دبابة وأن يكون هدفك هو... الحصول على تراب الوطن؟
  أخبرتني ستّي كثيراً عن قريتها التي هجرت منها في "يافا" وعن حلمها في الرجوع إلى بيتها أو حتى الحصول على القليل من ترابه
  لكن لم أكن في ذلك الوقت أملك الشجاعة التي تمتلكها حياة في أن أتحدى كل ��لك الحواجز والوصول إلى قرية ستّي
  ماتت ستّي وهي ما زالت ترى "يافا" كما تركتها..
  "إنّني أعيش في سجن مفتوح، ولكنّني لن أعيش في يأس. لأن عمري ثلاث عشرة سنة وهذا ما أعرفه أيضاً."
  "طالما كان هناك حياة كان هناك حُب. إنّني سأفعل أكثر من مجرد البقاء. أنّنا جميعاً في النهاية لسنا سوى مخلوقات بشرية تضحك نفس الضحكة، وإنّ العالم يوماً ما سوف يُدرك أنّنا ببساطة نريد أن نعيش كشعب حرّ، له أمل وكرامة وهدف.. هذا هو كل شيء.
  حقاً أطفال فلسطين ليسوا طبيعيين.
  
• 
  Glaiza

  'There is no war in music.' A beautifully told & nuanced story about family roots, hope, loss and life in the middle of a conflict.
  
  Full review on the blog:
  https://paperwanderer.wordpress.com/2...
• 
  Khawlah

  Simply breathtaking. That is all I can say.
• 
  Nadeen Zarour

  "في هذا العالم خياران. إما البقاء وإما الاستسلام"
  رواية تقص حياة أحد العائلات الفلسطينية، بسيطة اللغة والشرح والتسلسل، عظيمة التأثير!
  لأول مرة أقرأ كتاب عن حياة الفلسطينيين وأشعر بالفرح ولو قليلاً، شكراً حياة وشكراً سامي.
  شكراً لرندة عبد الفتاح.
• 
  Huda N.H.

  رواية تجمع بين المتناقضات ،، كيف لا و هي تحكي قصة أبطالها على أرض فلسطين الحبيبة التي ترتدي ثوب التناقض كي تستطيع العيش و تعلن للعالم أننا باقون رغم كل شئ
  ،
  تشويق وكوميديا طريفة يقابله حنين إلى الوطن وصور من الواقع المرير الذي
  يعانيه أبناء الوطن
  " حياة) بطلة القصة ،، رغم صغر عمرها إلا أنها اسم على مُسمّى فالـ"الحياة)
  أذاقتها الكثيـــر ،، و ربما كانت مثالاً ورمزاً للكثير من أطفال شعبنا
  ،
  ولكن فاجأتني النهاية بحيث شعرتها تقليدية في بداية الأمر ،، و لكن عندما تعمقت بها وجدت (حفلة الزفاف) تحمل معاني كثيرة ،، تحمل معني الأمل وعدم اليأس و الاستمرار و البقاء رغم كل ما تناولته الرواية من صنوف الكبت و العذاب في المجتمع الفلسطيني المحتل ،،
  فليس هنالك نهاية للقضية الفلسطينية يمكن تسطيرها في صفحات الروايات ،، ستدوم القضية و تدوم معها الحياة حتى يبزغ فجر الحرية ذات يوم و عندها ستكون النهاية بالفعل !!
  
  فكما قالت حياة:
  "لدينا في هذا العالم خياران ، إمّاأن نحاول البقاء و إمَا أن نستسلم "
• 
  zahraa esmaile

  رواية إنبهرت بإسمها ولكنها ف النهاية مملة
  الأسلوب معقول يخليك ماشى ورا الكاتب لا عاوز تكمل الرواية ولا هاين عليك تقفلها
  بس تفاصيل التفاصيل تخليك تحس ان الموضوع رخم
  255 صفحة ممكن جدا يبقو 150 بسهولة
  مفهمتش ليه الرواية مخلصتش بعد م رجعت بيتهم وستها فرحت بالتراب؟؟؟
  وليه الكاتب يخلبنى اعدى ثلثى الرواية عشان اعرف قصة الجرح
  رواية مملة
  ميزتها الوحيدة انها بتوصف معاناة يومية لشعب كبير
• 
  Othman alsaeed

  أنشودة حزينة لفلسطين الحاضرة في وجداننا ..
• 
  Fadillah

  “The nostagia suffocates me. I see my limestone house in the village. I see the radio your grandfather bought when we went to Souk in the old city. We kept the radio in the kitchen. I see the arched windows overlooking the hills, each window like a stone frame. I can smell my jasmine and almond trees and remember the olive trees i harvested. Those memories stow themselves in my windpipe until i dare not conjure another memory or i will scarcely be able to breathe”.
  - Where the streets had name by Randa Abdel-Fatteh
  .
  .
  In the alternate universe, maybe this story will be just about 2 mischievous teenagers named Hayaat and Samy embarking a road trip to the unknown place which Hayaat’s grandmother used to live. Instead of scaling the wall to enter the place illegally, the worst obstacle they faced is just the place no longer exist and being replaced by the shopping mall building not being taken over illegally by Zionist Occupation. In the alternate universe, Hayaat Grandmother may lose her house due to the financial constraint instead of being forced to fled by the Israel force. But we are not talking about the alternate universe, Arent we? Be it in the book or what happened right now, illegal occupation is still going on and people are being evicted from their land and home by Israel. I can see that this book is somewhat a tribute to Author’s grandma that wanted to touch the soil of their homeland but couldnt do so. We always take granted of what we have such as traveling 10 km from our home does not mean anything to us. However, for Hayaat and Samy, it is not that easy, checkpoint upon checkpoint, insults and unfair treatment by Israelis Officers and they can easily being forced to leave their bus if these zionists felt they are up to no good. Overall, this book provided great insights of what it felt being a teenagers in Palestine. They saw the despair of their parents and grandparents losing their homeland but that does not stop them to still enjoy life has to offer. Hayat and Samy friendship is adorable, as hayat is optimist and self aware but Samy is pessimist and nihilist which causing them to always bicker and argue over small things. However, they are fiercely loyal to each other. Along their unplanned journey to collect the soil for Hayaat’s grandma, they have met many people along the way, Naseem (a refugee boy), David and Mali (An israeli activists) and also Kareem’s family who were forced out of bus even they did nothing wrong. This is fast-paced novel with a brief history commentary especially Palestine and Israel Conflict. If you wanted to read a young adult novel about Palestine, this has it all. A highly recommended reading.
• 
  thewanderingjew

  This tale, told pretty much through the eyes and experiences of a 13 year old Palestinian child named Hayaat, is tender, tragic and humorous all at the same time. It seeks to illuminate the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in a gentle and largely non-confrontational way. It is told in simple truths, although the truth is often only on one side of the issue. Still, I would recommend it as a teaching tool in the middle grades so that this side of the issue, rarely covered, is explored more fully.
  Hayaat lives with her family in a small home in the walled off area of Israel on the West Bank. Her former home was bulldozed to make room for a road in Israel, leading to new settlements. Her father has been fairly despondent ever since he lost his land. Hayaat’s best friend is murdered by Israelis during a demonstration and Hayaat is scarred physically and emotionally during the incident. She and her friend are innocent victims. The demonstration, however, was not innocent. The young soldiers got spooked when they were attacked. Dispersing the crowd, tragedy occurred.
  The problems encountered by the families trapped behind the wall are huge and seemingly insurmountable. Traveling and/or working in Israel is a nightmare for them. It is time consuming and erratic in nature. Their very existence is cause for suspicion. New checkpoints can randomly appear depending on the turmoil occurring. Suicide bombings bring increased security checks, searches, bulldozing of homes and humiliation for them.
  Hayaat’s sister is engaged to be married and a wedding is being planned. There is happiness and joy in her home which is a warm and loving environment. Her grandmother is old and ill and she wants to see her homeland again before she dies; she yearns for the land she left behind in Israel. Hayaat adores her and is obsessed with the idea of sneaking into Israel and bringing back some soil from her grandmother’s former land. This is an exceedingly dangerous thing to chance but she and her friend Samy decide to try. The people she meets and the dangers she encounters serve as the medium for the story to unfold. Memories are aroused and the hazards of normal daily life are exposed. As philosophical and hopeful as Hayaat is about her life, Samy is angry and defiant. Through their remarks and behavior, we are presented with a picture of how the Arab Israeli conflict is viewed and acted out in the larger world. The larger problems of the conflict and the peace talks are illustrated through the lives of these children.
  Via their experiences, the hardships faced and the sometimes frightening events they witness, some healing takes place. They do come to the realization that everyone, Israeli and Arab alike, really wants to just be allowed to live with dignity, that not all Jews are hateful enemies, that some work to help them achieve freedom and respect. However, the reason for their plight is never fully explored so they never quite come to the realization that they bear some responsibility for how they are being treated because of the past behavior of their brethren. The subject of the many wars the Arab nations have declared against Israel is never fully explored.
  Hopefully, it is through the innocent eyes of children, the future generations, that this conflict will be resolved. Hayaat says “I live in an open air prison…so long as there is life there is love…” Her message of hope is what the world needs to hear. Her yearning for dignity and purpose and freedom is the message of the book.
  The reason I gave the book four stars and not five is because the point that the Arabs are monitored because of the security threat that they pose, not because they are Arabs or Palestinians, is never quite made nor is the point that Jews are attacked and hated because they are Jews trying to live in their own country. The point that the Arabs do not want to accept the legitimacy of Israel is never quite made, as well. The Arabs are made to seem largely as innocent victims who had no part in the causal relationship between their suffering and their behavior.
  Perhaps this book could be an effective weapon to fight hatred and serve as a teaching tool for students if another book with the opposing position is read at the same time and then both are dissected and analyzed for the reasons the conflict exists and the true history behind all the events is taught so that one side or another is not always demonized, so that both sides can begin to understand each other’s needs and engage in mutual respect.
  The glossary at the end of the book is very helpful as there were times when I was totally confounded with the meaning of words.
  For further information on the history of the conflict, check out these websites.
  
  http://www.mideastweb.org/http://www....
  
  http://www.mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm
  
  http://mideastweb.org/timeline.htm
• 
  Mohammed Morsi

  A beautiful and immediate novel that is highly recommended if you want insight into the Palestinian question through a personal perspective.
• 
  غصون

  توقعت بما أنها حازت جوائز فهي بالطبع لم تنصف القضية الفلسطينية ،وصُدمت أثناء قراءتها
  
  لم أتوقعها أن تكون بالسطحية والسذاجة والتفاهة هكذا في الكتابة ، الرواية أظهرت أن اليهود شعب مُحب وطيب جيدا وان ما يحدث فقط هي انتهاكات لعناصر من الجيش وليست القضية إرهاب دولة المحتل .
  إذن الفلسطينيين يبالغون فيما يفعلون ! وما يظهر إعلاميا هو من فعل جنود وليس صادر عن كراهية شعب اليهود ..
  
  أيضا افتقدت الرواية اللباقة في الحديث ،فيما يخص جدتها وألفاظ أخيها السوقية وكما تسمى_ ألفاظ القاع _،هي تحدث في كل البيوت فلا داعي لذكرها،
  فما دخلنا نحن وصماط مؤخرة محمد !... أظهرت أيضا جهل والدها ،يمكنك سؤال أي طفل عن اسم الشجرة التي لجأت مريم أثناء والدتها سيقول النخلة..
  استهتارها بالدين فذمت المسلم والمسيحي و كان لشيخ الجامع النصيب الأكبر تمادت في وصف جهله وحيله الكاذبة وكأن المسلمين ملتحون أغبياء جهلة .. إذا كانت تريد إنشاء قصة مغامرة للوصول إلى القدس كان يجب عليها ذكر المخاطر الحقيقية والمعاناة في الطريق وليس مساعدة يهود لها !
  أريد البدء بالأخطاء التي وردت بالرواية :
  1) الصورة الأولى "الخريطة " وأنها كتبت في الترميز أراضي يهود والحقيقة لا يوجد أراضي يهود آنذاك منذ عام 1922 حتى 1948كانو عمالا لدى الانجليز .
  2) جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي وعرب إسرائيل (مسميات خطأ في المعنى وتوقفنا نحن الفلسطينيين عن لفظها من زمن لأنها تديينا) الأصح جيش الاحتلال وعرب 48
  3) الاستماتة في الحصول على الجنسية الإسرائيلية وهذا لم ولن يحدث في تاريخ فلسطين حتى العملاء لم يطالبوا بها وإنما الحقيقة أنها تُفرض إجباريا على عرب48 الذين يعيشون في الأراضي المحتلة .
  4)لو لاحظنا أنها عندما تطرقت لذكر النكبة كانت جدتها تسرد وبين كل مقطع والآخر تأتي بموقف مضحك ،وهو خدعة لإخراج القارئ من جو التعاطف
  5) حديثها عن اليهود وأنهم بشر طيبون وتعاطفها الواضح مهم ،و الحقيقة للعلم أن اليهود يعطون أطفالهم زجاجات أسيد لسكبها على كل فلسطيني يرونه،ويدرسون كره العرب في مدارسهم شعارهم الموت للعرب ..
  
  6)حديث جدتها عن كره اليهود وأن الكره لا يولد إلا التعاسة ،،،عفوا وكيف أحرر أرضي إن أحببت عدوي وتعاطفت معه ؟!!!!! *
  
  *** الحقائق التي ذكرتها:
  1)مسألة الإعاقة على الحواجز صحيحة وخصوصا حاجز قلنديا ،لأجل المرور يجب الانتظار ساعات طوال ،لمجرد أن الجندي لا مزاج له في السماح لأحد بالمرور.
  2)حديثها عن الاجتياحات في غزة صحيحة تماما / وأنا عشت هكذا موقف أكثر من مرة ،يحبسون أهل البيت في غرفة واحدة ويأخذون هم كل المنزل ويعيثون في البيت فساد كل ما يرونه يعتبر لهم كالجراد يأكلون مافي الثلاجة ،وما يعجبهم يأخذونه وإذا وجدوا ذهبا أو نقود لم يسعف الوقت أصحاب البيت في إخفاءها يسرقوها ،،،
  والخروج للحمام (أجلكم الله)بإذن منهم ،وعند خروجهم من البيت "عذرا" يتبولون على أثاث المنزل .
  3) الحقيقة الأصعب التي ذكرتها هي أن الفلسطينيين محرومين من دخول القدس فقط مسموح لأصحاب الهوية الزرقاء (الجنسية الاسرائيلية)بدخول القدس ،وأهل الضفة الغربية دخولهم بقيود كثيرة وصعبة وأحيانا كثيرة لا يدخلون ويعودون إلى مدنهم ..
  أما نحن أهل غزة محرومين من دخول القدس ما حيينا ،احلم بزيارة الكعبة والأقصى، الكعبة أستطيع والأقصى لا ،،
  
  حينما قال البرغوثي في قصيدته الشهيرة في القدس "فيها كل من وطء الثرى أتراها ضاقت علينا وحدنا " صدق تماما يستطيع كل من على الكرة الأرضية زيارتها أما من يحملون الجنسية الفلسطينية ممنوعين من ذلك أستطيع التجول بحرية في جميع مدن الضفة وعند أبواب القدس يتحتم عليّ إدارة ظهري والعودة من حيث أتيت.....
  
  هذه هي روايتها التي لاقت رواجا في العالم فلسطينية تحدثت عن لطف اليهود ولم تتحدث عن معاناة شعبها..
  
• 
  Larissa

  Hayaat is not your average thirteen year old; she will break laws and risk her life, and all for her ill grandmother.
  
  Hayaat has grown up in Bethlehem but it is not where she was born. She is a Muslin and also a Palestinian, but most importantly she is a girl, a child living under occupation in the West Bank. Her life is a mixture of good days; going to school or skipping it to spend time with her friend Samy, and bad days; being locked in her home during curfew with her family for days on end.
  
  The past is a scary place for many, filled with loss and heartache, and Hayaat has not been spared from this; she carries the scares of the past with her. People cling to their memories and to each other to survive, but despite all there is love and life, shopping and gossip. Although for many the future seems bleak and devoid of hope, life goes on, and so does their dream for freedom.
  
  This is a story that is not often told. It is about more then just survival, it's about hope, and courage, and the enduring human spirit. A simple yet beautifully written story that is incredibly moving and passionately honest.
• 
  Wally

  Hayyat is a Palestinian girl who lives in Bethlehem with her family, including her aging and ailing grandmother. When the grandmother gets sick, she and her best friend, a Christian boy, make a dangerous journey to Jerusalem to find a handful of soil that Hayyat believes will help save her grandmother’s life.
  I really liked this book. Hayyat and all of her friends and family are entirely believable and human, with lots of feeling and individuality. The setting might require a map to really understand the situation, but is drawn in such great detail that the reader feels present in these hot cities. The main plot finds its way quickly to their quest and ends nicely. This book would work well for any class studying the Mideast or the intersection of Islam and Christianity, and is just a great read about a place that doesn’t get much attention in teen novels. Highly recommended for grades 6-12. It could go younger, but some violent scenes in a flashback might upset younger kids.