Middle East

Noah’s Ark

The New York Times Best- Illustrated book returns Lisbeth Zwerger, recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, employs her distintive style to breathe fresh life into this well-known Bible story. Her award-winning art uses clever vignettes and striking full pages to present the menagerie of animals sailing on this amazing voyage. With grace and economy, Heinz Janisch’s text tells the full story of the flood without glossing over details. It is in every way poignant and captivating.

Tara’s Flight

Tara is a dove. Before the flood, she brought messages back and forth between Noah and his family. Now she is confined to the small loft that Noah s grandson has built under the roof of the ark. For forty days and nights, Tara sits patiently in her loft, while outside thunder booms and rain pours down. One day Noah s grandson comes with a basket to take Tara to the deck of the arc. It s time for her to be a messenger bird again. If Tara returns to the arc, it will mean that Noah s house is still under water. If Tara doesn t return, it means she is waiting at home for the return of Noah and his family. Ruth Eitzen s gentle retelling of Noah, with endearing illustrations by Allan Eitzen, is perfect for young children.

Sunrise over Fallujah

Robin Perry, from Harlem, is sent to Iraq in 2003 as a member of the Civilian Affairs Battalion at the beginning of Operation Iraqui Freedom, and he will be the liaison between the military and the Iraqis. His time there profoundly changes him.

My Cousin Tamar Lives in Israel

A boy living in the United States describes differences in the way he and his family observe Jewish traditions, and the way his cousin and her family observe the same traditions in the Jewish homeland.

War in the Middle East: A Reporter’s Story: Black September and the Yom Kippur War

In 1970, when the Jordanian civil war known as Black September began, U.P.I. correspondent Wilborn Hampton was sent to report on unfolding events. Holed up in the InterContinental Hotel and caught in the crossfire, he managed to get the story out. Three years later, dispatched to Israel to cover the Yom Kippur War, the reporter took it on himself to drive to the front lines.

Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood

In this groundbreaking memoir set in Ramallah during the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Ibtisam Barakat captures what it is like to be a child whose world is shattered by war. With candor and courage, she stitches together memories of her childhood: fear and confusion as bombs explode near her home and she is separated from her family; the harshness of life as a Palestinian refugee; her unexpected joy when she discovers Alef, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. This is the beginning of her passionate connection to words, and as language becomes her refuge, allowing her to piece together the fragments of her world, it becomes her true home.

Featured in Volume II, Issue 2 of WOW Review.

The Frozen Waterfall

When she finally joins her father and brothers in their new home in Switzerland, a twelve-year-old Turkish girl encounters the tremendous difficulty of living in a foreign country without knowing the language and customs.

A Little Piece of Ground

During the Israeli occupation of Ramallah in the West Bank of Palestine, twelve-year-old Karim and his friends create a secret place for themselves where they can momentarily forget the horrors of war.

Featured in Volume II, Issue 4 of WOW Review.