31 Jul / The Lemon Tree (Young Readers’ Edition): An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan [in School Library Journal]
“I wanted to write a history book in disguise,” journalist and professor Sandy Tolan announces, “and to make it feel, throughout, like a good novel. Even though the story is true.” Tolan voiced his original; here Rami Medina makes his audiobook debut: his rich, youthful voice hints at an indeterminable slight accent drawing listeners into an absorbing performance. Medina moves effortlessly between the two protagonists – Palestinian Arab Bashir and Israeli Jew Dalia – transcending gender and age as decades pass through Tolan’s chapters.
In 1967, almost 20 years after being forced to flee, Bashir Khairi knocked on the door of his ancestral home and was greeted by Dalia Eshkenazi, whose family had moved in when she was 11 months old. That shared home, “against all odds,” will inspire a lasting friendship.
Verdict: Over a decade and a half after his 2006 international bestseller, Tolan’s young readers adaptation – enhanced by newbie Medina – succeeds again as gripping storytelling.
From the introduction: All the titles here are nonfiction; most feature difficult subjects including history, climate change, systemic racism. Some might ask, why expose younger readers to challenging, unpleasant, haunting truths? One of the featured writers, Hilary Beard, provides the consummate answer back in her introduction to The Burning:
“…the fact that something is upsetting to us doesn’t mean that we should not engage it. Facing the truth empowers us to understand our self, our neighbors, and our world more accurately; to make appropriate choices and decisions; to heal the past and present and build a more promising future. Together.”
Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Published: 2021