Habibi (Nye)

                                             

Nye, Naomi Shihab. Habibi. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1997. ISBN 0689801491

On the verge of entering high school, Liyana feels that everything is just as it should be. She knows the ins and outs of her neighborhood, loves spending time with her grandmother, Peachy Helen, and has just experienced her first kiss. Then her parents announce the biggest change of Liyana’s life. Her family is moving away from everything that Liyana has ever known. They will be leaving her mom’s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri to live just outside of her dad’s hometown of Jerusalem. Once there, she is overwhelmed by her father’s large Arab family and the many lingual and cultural differences she encounters. She is shocked with the reality of the ongoing violence between Jews and Arabs in the city. With time, however, Liyana begins to appreciate the rich history and culture of Jerusalem and begins to approach life with familiarity and hope.

Critical Analysis

Habibi is a culturally rich novel that addresses the unique cultural experience of a teenage girl born to an Israeli father and an American mother as she transitions from life in the United States to life in Israel, or as her father “Poppy” still refers to his homeland, Palestine. Liyana knows only her father’s stories of his homeland and family when they take off on their journey.

The reader learns along with Liyana many of the cultural differences between the United States and Israel. Her friends back home had names like Jackson and Claire, but her friends at school in Jerusalem had names like Sylvie and Atom. In the United States, only her father called her “habibi” and her mother and grandmother called her precious, but in Israel many members of her Arab family used the term of endearment “habibi” or “habibti”. Liyana is also conflicted when she learns of many of the conservative expectations such as not wearing “inappropriate” shorts or wearing the friendship ring given to her by her American best-friend because the ring is seen as a distraction. It is also common for her older uncles to wear “kaffiyehs” on their heads and her older aunts to wrap their heads in long scarves.

Once in Jerusalem, Liyana learns more about the cultural differences and conflicts within the city itself. Most everyone within the city walls is bilingual and Liyana must attend classes with kindergarten students to learn Arabic. Liyana and her family explore the Arab and Armenian areas of the city but avoid the Jewish sections. The most difficult part for Liyana is witnessing instances of hate between Arabs and Jews.

However new and difficult, life in Jerusalem is also wonderful. Liyana learns the shared experiences between all who live in the old city. Nye uses poetic language, sprinkled with Arabic words, to describe the sights, sounds, and smells of the area as Liyana experiences and falls in love with the places, people, and things of Israel. She experiences the Dead Sea, “prickly with salt”, tastes a wide array of Arabic desserts including “katayef”, learns from her grandmother “Sitti” who tells stories of angels, and most of all falls for a Jewish boy named Omer who has olive skin the color of her own and “smell[s] of the sun.” As Liyana and Omer grow closer, they learn similarities and differences between the Arab and Jewish cultures, such as traditions for mourning. Nye’s beautiful descriptions add depth to the story help the reader experience Liyana’s Jerusalem. In the end, both the reader and Liyana will come to appreciate and love her new home and hold onto hope for a true peace in Jerusalem.

Awards and Review Excerpts

ALA Notable Children’s Books 1998

Jane Addams Book Awards 1998

Booklist: “steeped in detail about the place and cultures”

Kirkus Reviews: “unique, short-story-like chapters and poetic language”

Publisher’s Weekly: “Nye's climactic ending will leave readers pondering, long after the last page is turned”

School Library Journal: “readers will be engaged by the characters, the romance, and the foreshadowed danger”

Connections

Pair this novel with poetry written by Naomi Shihab Nye.

Nye, Naomi Shihab. A Maze Me: Poems for Girls. ISBN 9780060581893

Nye, Naomi Shihab. Fuel.  ISBN 9781880238639

Nye, Naomi Shihab. Honeybee: Poems & Short Prose. ISBN 9780060853907

Read a novel about two teenage girls working together to leave Ethiopia and reach Sudan despite their religious differences that have historically brought hate.

Kurtz, Jane. The Storyteller’s Beads. ISBN 9780152010744