HABIBI

By Naomi Shihab Nye

Image Credit: www.goodreads.com

1. Bibliographic
Nye, Naomi Shihab. HABIBI. New York: Simon Pulse, 1999. Print. ISBN 0689825234

2. Plot Summary
Liyana, who is fourteen years old and lives in Missouri, is told that her family is moving to Jerusalem the home country of her father. Liyanna has a hard time adjusting to living in this new culture and embracing her new family members including her grandmother, Sitti.  Liyanna finally accepts that the family will not be moving back to the states and decides that she must learn from her Sitti and the culture around her.

3. Critical Analysis
In HABIBI we are introduced to a young teenage girl who is being moved to the other side of the world where everyone speaks a different language or two and the way of life is completely different from the United States. In Jerusalem, Liyana faces learning the different ways of the Arab and Jewish cultures. She is also faced with violence between the two cultures that has been present for many years. The violence is not something most of the characters encounter, but the reader is aware that the violence is always in the environment.

Cultural markers in the book include numerous references to food, clothing, customs, and historical landmarks. These landmarks noted in the story include the tomb of Jesus, the garden of Gethsemane, and many other landmarks from Biblical times. Many of the food referred to include hummus, ghanouj, and aromatic lentil soup. Food that is found in America is also referenced such as a pineapple upside-down cake and numerous spies including parsley. We also learn that Thanksgiving is not celebrate in that part of the world. Liyanna speaks mostly in English. Later in the story she uses more Arabic words such as "Ana tayyib - I'm fine. Wa alaykum essalaam - and upon you peace. Shway - a little bit."

Many of the characters seem to have rich personalities. Liyanna and Rafik are both described as being Arab-Americans who look more like their father with olive skin and Arab eyes. Sitti, lives in a rural village where she still has the old style oven and refuses to embrace the modern appliances. After soldiers go to Sitti's house looking for a relative, we learn that Sitti has in-door plumbing including a bathroom.

After some research, I found that this story was based on the author's own experience of moving from the states to Jerusalem at the age of fourteen. I would recommend this story to students in upper elementary and intermediate. I would especially recommend this to children who are of the Arab-American descent and their classmates. Students may find that the story moves along slowly while the reader is waiting for something to take place to move the plot along.


4. Review Excepts & Awards
ALA Best Book for Young Adults

ALA Notable Children's Book

Jane Addams Book Award

New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

American Bookseller"Pick of the Lists"

Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature

Texas Institute of Letters Best Book for Young Readers

~SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL  (9/1997): "Though the story begins at a leisurely pace, readers will be engaged by the characters, the romance, and the foreshadowed danger. Poetically imaged and leavened with humor, the story renders layered and complex history understandable through character and incident. Habibi succeeds in making the hope for peace compellingly personal and concrete...as long as individual citizens like Liyana's grandmother Sitti can say, "I never lost my peace inside."


5. Connections
~Students could research more about Jerusalem and how the culture has changed over time.

~Other books by Naomi Shihab Nye include
FUEL POEMS
YELLOW GLOVE
HUGGING THE JUKEBOX