Not my kind of book at all.  I read it because it was recommended on a 'strong teen female' list and because I hoped it would give me insight to the Israeli/Palestine conflict.  Well, yeah, it showed me again just how truly messy that conflict is.  Just like real-life, there's no happy ending, no resolution.  A quick and engaging read that some folks will love, and that I imagine most folks will praise, but not my thing. ( )

Telling the story of the conflicting sides between Palestinian and Israeli people, this book gives readers a chance to live in the shoes of a Palestinian girl who has gone against the norm and become a shepherd like her grandfather. Many changes happen around her family's land as she grows into the role she has chosen for herself and these things directly affect her livelihood, not to mention the fate of her family.

I was easily caught up in this story and felt I had lived through parts of it myself. The writing made it easy to sympathize with the shepherd's family, but I felt wasn't overly cruel to the Israeli side, though they were clearly the "bad guys" in this story. Yes, many bad things happened because of the way the Israelis treated her family, but the inclusion of an Israeli "friend" for the girl tries to soften things a bit and succeeds where it needs to, I think. Their time together, short as it is, is proof that not every person in one group is incapable of thinking of the consequences of the group's actions and how they hurt people on the "other side."

This book for middle school aged readers is an excellent look at character and recent history that we should not ignore. ( )

This is one of those books that enlightens. Knowing very little about the Israel/Palestine situation, this book gave me some history about this situation (although it does give a Palestinian perspective) and what it might be like to live under these circumstances. I highly recommend this book.

Full review:

http://readingthroughlife.ca/the-shepherds-granddaughter-review/

Short excerpt:

I actually really liked this book. It was easy to follow and to sympathize with Amani, and yet it was clear right from the beginning that this was only her opinion, and not a definite account of how everything happens in the Occupied Territories. Her father and uncle disagreed on how they should fight back against the Israelis, one wanting to use violent resistance while the other advocated peaceful protest. There are some “good” Jewish characters as well, despite what some of the people wanting this book banned claim. Amani was a great character – she tried to understand what was happening, and tried to do what was best for her family and her flock, even when things didn’t seem to be going her way.

Recommended Ages: Gr. 6-9

Plot Summary: Amani, a shepherd in modern-day Palestine, doesn't go to school, but instead learns to be a shepherd from her grandfather. When a settlement begins to violently take over Amanis' family's land by force, Amani and her family peacefully protest, even after Amani's uncle and father are arrested.

Recurring Themes: Israel-Palestine relations, good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, family, shepherding, religion (Jews, Muslims, Christians), reaction to unwanted behaviors, value of school, language

Controversial Issues: The Israel-Palestine conflict is a touchy subject. In this particular book, the Israeli's are the people who are doing wrong.

Personal Thoughts: Through most of this book, I was confused by character names, and probably should have kept notes. At one point, I thought the donkey and the grandfather had the same name. The last third of the book really bothered me because, as a Jew, I was greatly annoyed by the poor decisions made by the people in the Jewish settlement. They harassed & arrested Amani's family members. They built roads on their land. And at the end, they used a bulldozer to destroy Amani's family's olive trees, houses, and barn. The settlers even killed some of the animals in the story. I think the way the settlers behaved was inappropriate, and I was proud of how Amani's family chose to respond peacefully. The only good Jewish characters were a Rabbi and a boy from the settlement.

According to the information about the author, Anne spent time working on kibbutzim and stayed with Palestinian families to do research for this book. I am personally interested in her original interest in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and to know her religious background.

While this book greatly bothers me because it is a negative portrayal of Jews, I am glad it exists. It has prompted me to do more research about the poor decisions made on both sides of the conflict. ( )