Thank you Netgalley and Harper Kids for the gifted book that I read along with the library audio.
by: Jacquetta Nammar Feldman
narrated by: Ariana Delawari
rating: really liked
A beautiful book about finding common ground amidst all the reasons people find to disagree. Featuring an Arab-American protagonist, Yasmeen, whose family moves from Detroit to San Antonio. She is transplanted not only in location, but out of the loving and familiar Palestinian community she has grown up in. In Texas she finds herself in the minority in her new school and when her grandmother moves in from Jerusalem, her friendship with the Israeli-American girl across the street becomes complicated for reasons Yasmeen doesn't fully understand. I loved the skill in which the author handled complex issues like racial tension and prejudice balanced with the usual middle grade themes of friendship and fitting in. I also loved the depiction of Yasmeen's relationship with her mother and the other tween, teen, and adult women who formed their new and old communities.
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