Elsa MarstonReviews

WJBAHIYI

An interesting collection of short stories all featuring different aspects of teen life in the Middle East. The author has lived in or visited all the countries she writes about, although she herself is American. One of the themes running through the stories is the power of art and beauty and another is that there are always multiple ways of looking at things. At the end of the book are notes on each story: about it's origins, her experiences in the country, or the political background.

Santa Claus in Baghdad (Iraq, 2000): A girl searches for the perfect gift for her teacher and ends up unknowingly buying the book her father had sold to get money for a toy for her brother.

"...she gazed at the street full of knowledge that nobody could afford any longer...here were the libraries of Baghdad…"

Faces (Syria): Suhayel's father is remarrying, and Suhayel will have to live with them since he's now thirteen and too old to stay with his mother. As a surprise, he makes dinner for his mother.

"All those faces probably hide the truth, things they don't want other people to know. I'll bet every face does. Mine too."

The Hand of Fatima (Lebanon): A fourteen-year-old maid from Syria must choose between remaining in Beirut with the possibility of further education and returning to her village to marry the man her father has chosen.

The Olive Grove (Palestine): After his brother and best friend are killed by Israeli snipers, Mujahhid is sent from Bethlehem to a village to live with his aunt. There he must choose between jihad and a different kind of resistance.

In Line (Egypt): A girl from Cairo tries to make friends with a local village family against her mother's wishes.

Scenes in a Roman Theater (Tunisia): A boy selling hats at a tourist site and a renowned artist discover they have something in common.

Honor (Jordan): A girl is at risk of being killed to atone for the slight to her father's honor when she talks with a man outside the home.

The Plan (Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon): Rami takes art lessons with fifty other boys for an hour every Thursday. Enamored with his pretty teacher, he decides to fix her up with his older brother, an engineering student reduced to peddling hardware.½

I liked this book for two main reasons; the illustrations and language used. The book was written as if it were being told to the reader. It had an interesting story line that kept the reader flipping though the pages to see what the fox would chose. The illustrations of the book were amazing with the detail of the fox fur and the maiden outfit. The illustrations were simple enough to help the reader understand what the book was saying as well. The main idea of this was a fox wanted to see what the human village was like and in the end she returned for a third time to the village. Upon the return she was caught for who she truly was, a fox, she was chased out of the forest.

(ARC was provided to read and review.)

Sameer is a young boy, who lives with his parents in Lebanon. The house next to them stood empty for quite a few years, as the neighbours left during the war. But the war is over and they are back and he is looking forward to hopefully a new playmate living now next door to him.
Sadly, the child next door is a girl and not a boy, as he had hoped, and worse, Muno never talks to him, she doesn't even look his way.

A wall separates both properties and an olive tree grows right next to it on the neighbour's ground. Every year so far Sameer has collected the fruits which the overhanging branches dropped into his parents yard.
But Muna objects. "The tree is ours" she claims. "We looked after it, while you were away" Sameer returns.
They don't come to an agreement and angry Sameer dumps the basket with his collected olives on the other side of the wall and walks away.
After that he stops gathering the olives. Of course, they still fall to the ground on his side of the wall, but no one takes care of them now.

During a severe strom a lightning strucks the tree and shatters it and part of the wall to pieces. Both families are very sad, as they both were very attached to the tree. But with the object of their quarrels now gone, the two children have a chance for a fresh start.
Will they take it and become friends?

The Olive Tree is a very beautiful story of forgiveness, sharing and friendship. It's also a story, which tells us, that we enrich our lives, when we try to understand and respect "our neighbour on the other side of the fence", which must not necessarily be a garden fence, no matter what religion they believe in or which culture they belong to.
Claire Ewart's illustrations, are the most stunning watercolor paintings and enhance Elsa Marston's story perfectly. I so much enjoyed looking at the wonderful artwork.

It's a book which children will love to read or have read to them by their parents. It opens up room for many questions and interesting discussions. Highly recommended.

The Olive Tree by Elsa Marston tells the story of an olive tree that divides families. It stands in the yard of a family in the Middle East who has fled during the war, but its olives fall into the yard of the neighbor next door. When the olive tree owners return, the neighbors are disappointed to learn that the owners angrily declare that collecting the olives is stealing. The olives lay on the ground. The owners and the neighbors are estranged. Then lightning hits the tree and destroys it, and the families are somehow reconciled. Beautiful story.½

Muna and her family fled their home in Lebanon during the war. While they were gone, Sameer, the neighbor boy, took care of their precious olive tree that had been in Muna's family for a hundred years. While gathering olives, Sameer would dream about the family that lived next door. He would imagine them returning and having a son that he could play with. One day, Sameer looked out and the family had returned. His excitement turned to sadness when he found the family had a daughter, not a son, and she was not interested in playing or being nice. As Sameer picked up the olives that the tree had dropped into his yard, he meets the neighbor girl who has no interest in sharing the olives off of HER tree. Sameer is disappointed and angry until one evening, everything changes.

This is a sweet story of friendship, forgiveness and sharing. I like that it is set in a different culture, which makes the story more unique and gives us something else to learn about and discuss with your child.

The illustrations are beautiful and look like water colors. I love how the illustrator added animals into the photos even though they have nothing to do with the story. Each photo is filled with details to keep your child interested in the pictures as much as the story.

This is an excellent picture book to share with your child. The lesson it shares can apply to all of us.

Substance: Lives of young people in different Muslim and Middle East countries. Attempts to give insight into different cultures, but the youth protagonists seem awfully Westernized.

When Lebanon was wracked by war, some families stayed and some fled. Sameer’s family kept an eye on the house next door, and enjoyed the fruit dropped by the olive tree between their properties. Muna’s family fled. But now they’re home.

While Sameer longs for a new playmate to climb the tree with him, Muna’s more concerned to keep things safe and right, and hang on to what’s hers. And the olive tree, that could unite them, has grown on her side of the fence.

Author Elsa Marston never explains why Muna’s family fled, or why they might seem unfriendly on their return. What readers see is what a child will see, illustrated with haunting simplicity by Claire Ewart, and described with smoothly lyrical writing and voice. When Sameer is told he can’t enjoy the olives anymore, he lets them rot on the ground, and nothing more is said, no argument... until the storm.

Two families, separated by an olive tree, are united in the end by surprising kindness when nature takes a hand. Meanwhile readers gain a glimpse into a different culture, a smile from a different world, and a wonderful story of sharing, forgiveness and hope to offer to children everywhere.

Disclosure: I received a free copy from the publisher and I offer my honest review. It’s a beautiful book!

Good story about a boy in Sudan. People have Muslim names but no mention of Islam. However, there is nothing negative about Islam either. OK.

This book is about a fox who can transform into a woman and falls in love with a man. They are from two completely different worlds, but their love brings them together. The beautiful paintings really bring the story to life.

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

Abd el-Kader was well known in his own time for his efforts to prevent the French colonization of Algeria, but became even better known and respected by enemy and friend alike for his acceptance and interest in people of all political and religious backgrounds. His very popularity caused him difficulties because it made him a risk in exile even when he had no intention of violating his word that he would never return.

He was a complicated man, a thinking man thrust into the position of a leader in time of war, but his actions after surrender stand out with as much prominence as any he made harassing the French in Algeria.

This biography provides the background to understand the Emir’s proving ground, but the focus is more on who he was and how he treated others because that’s what offers an example to the modern world. It says something that so many of the existing records of his life come from descriptions by those who met him across a battleground or negotiating table. Even as he refused an offer by the then king of France to go back rule Algeria because he’d given his word to another French government never to step foot in his birth country, so too did he expect others to hold to their promises, an honor he did not find in those responsible for carrying out the terms of his surrender.

I’m jumping ahead in the biography to give a taste of what this telling offers. Will you see the dates of great battles within the pages: yes. Is that the theme that drives this particular biography: no.

This biography looks at the ways in which Emir Abd el-Kader made choices that did not reflect either the brutality of the French or the circumstances facing his own forces during the conflict. Instead, he focused on the law of Islam, the pure message of faith and treatment of others that many warp to serve their purposes. Not the emir. He kept to the spirit as well as the letter, treating his prisoners with the respect due to them as fellow people. He did the same with his visitors, whether sent to spy on him in the guise of a translator or come to request a prisoner exchange, something the French later banned because they needed to maintain the fiction of the Emir as a monster, not a good man.

Whether you read about the emir to learn about the past or out of curiosity, this biography has more to offer in showing how a political and military conflict can play out. It offers a glimpse into the complex maneuvers as government policy shifts and where expedience or caution can undermine duty and honor.

This is no simple presentation for all that it doesn’t have the length to go in depth on every aspect of this man’s journey through the trials and tribulations of life. There’s a lot to learn from what he dealt with, but more from how he dealt with the crises he faced.

I enjoyed The Compassionate Warrior and hope this renewed interest helps bring his perspective in the modern dialogues facing us, especially on religious grounds.

This book was provided by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is a delightful collection of five modern-day short stories from Arab teenagers living in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Iraq. It serves to break down stereotypes while showing that children all over the world have similar dreams, hopes and ambitions. This book would be a good way to teach children tolerance and acceptance for other cultures

Five short stories set in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon giving an insight and look at young people's lives. Their challenges hopes and dilemmas will engage readers and help to educate about life in the featured countries.

Marston, Elsa. Beaufort Books, 1981, 174 pp., Softcover. Grades 7-12.
This a classic mystery story with a teenage heroine, Tabby. It is set in Cairo, however, which introduces a whole new element of intrigue. In a surprise ending, Tabby learns the secret of the simple icon she had purchased as a gift. A very mild ending teenage romance is also included.

FROM PUBLISHER'S INFO:
"The five stories in this collection are told from the perspective of Arab teens living in Syria, Lebanon, a Palestinian refugee camp, Egypt, and Iraq. Each main character embarks on a mission to confront his or her social situation, whether regarding friends, family, teachers, or society at large. In "Santa Claus in Baghdad," Amal struggles with several coming-of-age experiences that teach her the importance of sacrifice and give her the strength to overcome personal insecurities. In another story, "The Plan," Marwan discovers that love is still possible even amid the squalor of life in a refugee camp and the remains of destroyed lives."