Representation: Jewish characters
Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, death of a person, grief and loss depiction, amputation, explosions
Score: Six points out of ten.
I own this book.

This novel was hiding on my shelves but I put it off for a while but when I ran out of reading material I got from the two libraries I visited, I didn't have many options left, so I finally picked it up and read it. When I finished it, I thought it was only okay, but it does have its strengths, and it aged well considering the circumstances.

It starts with the first character I see, Lesley, whose last name I forgot, living in 20th century Canada and everything looks typical at first until only a few pages in, her family announces that they will travel to Israel to stay there for a few days, much to Lesley's annoyance. Despite Lesley pleading to stay in Canada, her efforts fell on deaf ears and she goes to Israel anyway. Lesley arrives at a place called a kibbutz (after some research, I discovered that it's like a community everyone contributes to) which takes up the middle pages of the narrative. Here's where both its strengths and flaws surface: Lesley is a realistic character because she wasn't likable at first but eventually, through her development, she grew on me. However, the other people in the story didn't have as great of an execution than Lesley and the author missed an opportunity to write those characters well also. Soon enough, the Six Day War starts, and afterwards, Israel won, and Lesley has a realisation that war is not as great as it seems. The ending is a low note. It's also unclear if Lesley returned to Canada (or I forgot that.) ( )

Enjoyed this as a child, enjoyed reading it again. ( )

[This is a review I wrote in 2008]

**A good story about a young Jewish girl discovering her roots for the first time**

This is the story of Lesley, a young teenager who has lived her whole life in Canada. She's a popular girl, has lots of friends, a nice boyfriend, a happy home life and is well provided for by her parents.

But then her parents decide that something's missing from their lives, and having already lost one child to a Catholic marriage, they are adamant that Lesley must grow up with a stonger sense of her Jewishness than her brother did before her. So, all of a sudden Lesley's parents decide it's time to sell up the family business and emigrate to Israel, taking Lesley with them. Lesley of course is horrified and cannot imagine leaving the Canada she knows and loves... However, Lesley doesn't truly realise what she's given up until she arrives at the kibbutz (near the Palestinian border) where they have decided to make a fresh start. With fewer creature comforts, less privacy and solitude, Lesley struggles to settle in... until she begins to become fascinated by a Palestinian boy she can see working with his donkey on the other side of the river...

This is a good book and educational but, although enjoyable, it's quite rough and stilted in style. Not a flowing read, so I'm not yet in a hurry to read the sequel, 'Broken Bridge'. ( )

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I liked it, but there was some misinformation at the beginning. Lesley's brother asked a Rabbi to marry him and his Catholic girlfriend, and the Rabbi said no. So they asked a priest, and the priest sad no. Then later when they asked the priest again he said 'okay, as long as Noah' (Lesley's brother) 'converts to Catholism and all the kids are raised Catholic.' A priest wouldn't bribe them like that. What a priest would do if a Catholic wanted to marry a non-Catholic (in this case, a Jew) would be that he would ask the Bishop, who will almost always give permission. ( )