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Samir and Yonatan

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Samir and Yonatan

Paperback(Reprint)

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Paperback(Reprint)
$6.99

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Overview

Winner of the Mildred Batchelder Award, this very human novel of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is both touching and timely

Nothing could be more frightening to Samir, a Palestinian boy, than to be where he is now: an Israeli hospital ward, trapped among the very people he blames for his brother's death. Amid this explosive atmosphere, Samir begins to learn about the Israeli kids around him. He discovers their hurts and conflicts - and hesitantly begins to share his own.
This is a story of violence and healing - the story of a boy facing the enemy he has been taught to fear.

Product Details

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780439135238
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	11/28/2002
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	183
Product dimensions:	5.26(w) x 7.66(h) x 0.52(d)
Lexile:	810L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 14 Years

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Editorial Reviews

A Palestinian boy comes to terms with his younger brother's death in this slow-paced but moving novel originally published in Hebrew in 1994. In homage to the bravery of his brother Fadi, who was killed by an Israeli soldier, Samir shatters his kneebone in a daredevil bicycle feat. Consequently, he must undergo a special operation at the "Jews' hospital." Samir's fever plus the sealing off of territories keeps the boy hospitalized for several weeks in a ward with four Israeli children, including Yonatan, a boy with a hand in an "iron contraption" and a head in the clouds. The author simultaneously and effectively sketches the understated friendship that develops between the pair ("Together we're two boys with three legs and three hands," says Yonatan) and uses flashbacks to reveal the details of Samir's life in the occupied West Bank, including the effect of his brother's death on his family. Some readers may find the book's climax troubling: Samir, while playing a computer game with Yonatan in which he creates a new planet where "everything is possible," comes to believe that Fadi died because "he didn't have anything to carry on with." However, the book's understated tone and detailed character development prevent its message from becoming obvious or heavyhanded. Ages 8-12. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

SAMIR AND YONATAN Daniella Carmi. "A Palestinian boy comes to terms with his younger brother's death by an Israeli soldier in this slow-paced but affecting novel originally published in Hebrew in 1994," said PW. Ages 10-up. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 4-8-Riding his bicycle down the market steps, a young Palestinian falls and smashes his knee so badly that he needs surgery. For the first time in his life, Samir leaves his home in the Occupied Territories to go to a Jewish hospital where an American doctor will operate on him. While waiting for the procedure, Samir gets to know the other children on his ward, all Jews. Beautiful Ludmilla is pining away for her home in Russia and refusing to eat. Razia hides under her bed in fear of her father. Hyperactive Tzahi can't urinate properly and, most importantly, Yonatan with the crippled arm introduces Samir to the stars, computer games, and the way imagination can take one away from a place of pain. As Samir thinks about the home he misses, details of his family life are revealed. Readers learn that his younger brother was killed, shot while playing in the street by a man wearing the same uniform that Tzahi's brother wears when he visits. His older brother has gone to Kuwait to earn money and his mother works two jobs. His father has stopped talking. As the hospitalized children spend time together, they come to support one another, forming a team that crosses cultural boundaries. Samir and Yonatan take an illegal night outing to commandeer an office computer to play a game. Life in the hospital is described as clearly as life in the Occupied Territories and readers will sympathize with Samir's fear and loneliness and welcome his new friendships. Written in Hebrew but published first in Germany, the book is smoothly translated and will have wide appeal.-Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

School Library Journal

"A book that is worthy of attention. One almost hesitates to write that it is a children's book, because as an adult who is unacquainted with both societies from within you read the book and emerge equally enriched.... Carmi's artistic powers come to fore, enabling the reader to create his own imaginay dimension."
--Frankfurter Allgemein Zeitung (leading German newspaper)
"It is truly amazing how Israeli writer Daniella Carmi, who tells the story of Samir and Yonatan, succeeds in entering into the mentality of the Palestinian patient and reflecting it with such credibility.... Carmi's imagination is vital, allowing children's dreams to develop and fly to distant imaginative places."
--Die Zeit
"Samir, a Palestinian boy, finds himself in a Jewish hospital in Israel waiting for an American doctor to operate on his shattered knee. In this sharply observed novel Samir gets to know the four other children in the ward, and budding friendship alters his political views."
--New York Times Book Review:
"The title is recommended not only for its story, characterizations, and theme but also for its existence as young adult literature coming from outside the United States."
--Multicultural Review

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