Afbeelding auteur
20+ Werken 257 Leden 15 Besprekingen

Over de Auteur

Elsa Marston is an award-winning author of over 20 teen and children's books, specializing in the Middle East and North Africa, ancient and modern. She has a master's degree in international affairs from Harvard University with further study at the American University of Beirut, and has lived in toon meer Egypt, Lebanon, and Tunisia. toon minder

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Werken van Elsa Marston

Gerelateerde werken

First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants (2004) — Medewerker — 196 exemplaren
Memories of Sun: Stories of Africa and America (2004) — Medewerker — 38 exemplaren
Short Circuits (1992) — Medewerker — 35 exemplaren
Soul Searching: Thirteen Stories about Faith and Belief (2002) — Medewerker — 22 exemplaren

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Algemene kennis

Geslacht
female

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Gemarkeerd
Mustygusher | Dec 19, 2022 |
An interesting collection of short stories all featuring different aspects of teen life in the Middle East. The author has lived in or visited all the countries she writes about, although she herself is American. One of the themes running through the stories is the power of art and beauty and another is that there are always multiple ways of looking at things. At the end of the book are notes on each story: about it's origins, her experiences in the country, or the political background.

Santa Claus in Baghdad (Iraq, 2000): A girl searches for the perfect gift for her teacher and ends up unknowingly buying the book her father had sold to get money for a toy for her brother.

"...she gazed at the street full of knowledge that nobody could afford any longer...here were the libraries of Baghdad…"

Faces (Syria): Suhayel's father is remarrying, and Suhayel will have to live with them since he's now thirteen and too old to stay with his mother. As a surprise, he makes dinner for his mother.

"All those faces probably hide the truth, things they don't want other people to know. I'll bet every face does. Mine too."

The Hand of Fatima (Lebanon): A fourteen-year-old maid from Syria must choose between remaining in Beirut with the possibility of further education and returning to her village to marry the man her father has chosen.

The Olive Grove (Palestine): After his brother and best friend are killed by Israeli snipers, Mujahhid is sent from Bethlehem to a village to live with his aunt. There he must choose between jihad and a different kind of resistance.

In Line (Egypt): A girl from Cairo tries to make friends with a local village family against her mother's wishes.

Scenes in a Roman Theater (Tunisia): A boy selling hats at a tourist site and a renowned artist discover they have something in common.

Honor (Jordan): A girl is at risk of being killed to atone for the slight to her father's honor when she talks with a man outside the home.

The Plan (Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon): Rami takes art lessons with fifty other boys for an hour every Thursday. Enamored with his pretty teacher, he decides to fix her up with his older brother, an engineering student reduced to peddling hardware.
… (meer)
½
 
Gemarkeerd
labfs39 | 1 andere bespreking | Mar 30, 2022 |
I liked this book for two main reasons; the illustrations and language used. The book was written as if it were being told to the reader. It had an interesting story line that kept the reader flipping though the pages to see what the fox would chose. The illustrations of the book were amazing with the detail of the fox fur and the maiden outfit. The illustrations were simple enough to help the reader understand what the book was saying as well. The main idea of this was a fox wanted to see what the human village was like and in the end she returned for a third time to the village. Upon the return she was caught for who she truly was, a fox, she was chased out of the forest.… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
ndelac2 | 1 andere bespreking | Feb 16, 2016 |
(ARC was provided to read and review.)

Sameer is a young boy, who lives with his parents in Lebanon. The house next to them stood empty for quite a few years, as the neighbours left during the war. But the war is over and they are back and he is looking forward to hopefully a new playmate living now next door to him.
Sadly, the child next door is a girl and not a boy, as he had hoped, and worse, Muno never talks to him, she doesn't even look his way.

A wall separates both properties and an olive tree grows right next to it on the neighbour's ground. Every year so far Sameer has collected the fruits which the overhanging branches dropped into his parents yard.
But Muna objects. "The tree is ours" she claims. "We looked after it, while you were away" Sameer returns.
They don't come to an agreement and angry Sameer dumps the basket with his collected olives on the other side of the wall and walks away.
After that he stops gathering the olives. Of course, they still fall to the ground on his side of the wall, but no one takes care of them now.

During a severe strom a lightning strucks the tree and shatters it and part of the wall to pieces. Both families are very sad, as they both were very attached to the tree. But with the object of their quarrels now gone, the two children have a chance for a fresh start.
Will they take it and become friends?

The Olive Tree is a very beautiful story of forgiveness, sharing and friendship. It's also a story, which tells us, that we enrich our lives, when we try to understand and respect "our neighbour on the other side of the fence", which must not necessarily be a garden fence, no matter what religion they believe in or which culture they belong to.
Claire Ewart's illustrations, are the most stunning watercolor paintings and enhance Elsa Marston's story perfectly. I so much enjoyed looking at the wonderful artwork.

It's a book which children will love to read or have read to them by their parents. It opens up room for many questions and interesting discussions. Highly recommended.
… (meer)
 
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MasterReadersBooks | 3 andere besprekingen | Apr 21, 2015 |

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Statistieken

Werken
20
Ook door
5
Leden
257
Populariteit
#89,245
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
15
ISBNs
35

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