Where the Streets Had a Name
The Play
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Hayaat and her family spend their days dodging curfews, trying to buy a week’s groceries before the sirens blare, remembering their home among the olive groves before it was taken from them.
But when the curfew breaks and her beloved grandmother Sitti is taken to hospital, Hayaat sets out on a mission to retrieve a jarful of soil from the family’s old farm so she can grant Sitti’s last wish of touching the soil of her homeland once more. All Hayaat and her friend Samy have to do is cross the hated wall that divides the West Bank and traverse the most dangerous patch of land on earth.
Eva Di Cesare has adapted Abdel-Fattah’s book into a daring adventure of freedom and friendship, exile and courage, family and love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This suspenseful novel reveals the plight of Palestinians living in occupied territory, as 13-year-old Hayaat braves the journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, trying to fulfill the wish of her ailing grandmother, who dreams of touching the soil of her home once more. In her first middle-grade novel, Abdel-Fattah (Does My Head Look Big in This?) crafts a classic quest and adeptly sketches the strong friendship between Hayaat and her soccer-obsessed friend Samy, who accompanies her through checkpoints, and the memorable cast they encounter along the way, which includes a pair of Israeli peace activists. The rest of Hayaat's family anchor the narrative and prove equally compelling, including Hayaat's older sister, who is preparing for her wedding; her tenacious mother; and her depressed father. Clues to the disfiguring accident that scarred Hayaat and caused the death of her best friend build, illuminating a source of fear and sorrow. Still, Hayaat manages to hold onto hope: "Maybe it's not about survival. Maybe we have to learn how to live with purpose." The heroine's courage, warmth, and humor despite mounting challenges will win over readers. Ages 9 12.
