Starred Review To see in human scale the tragic collision of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, Tolan focuses on one small stone house in Ramla--once an Arab community but now Jewish. Built in 1936 by an Arab family but acquired by a Jewish family after the Israelis captured the city in 1948, this simple stone house has anchored for decades the hopes of both its displaced former owners and its new Jewish occupants. With remarkable sensitivity to both families' grievances, Tolan chronicles the unlikely chain of events that in 1967 brought a long-dispossessed Palestinian son to the threshold of his former home, where he unexpectedly finds himself being welcomed by the daughter of Bulgarian Jewish immigrants. Though that visit exposes bitterly opposed interpretations of the past, it opens a real--albeit painful--dialogue about possibilities for the future. As he establishes the context for that dialogue, Tolan frankly details the interethnic hostilities that have scarred both families. Yet he also allows readers to see the courage of families sincerely trying to understand their enemy. Only such courage has made possible the surprising conversion of the contested stone house into a kindergarten for Arab children and a center for Jewish-Arab coexistence. What has been achieved in one small stone building remains fragile in a land where peacemaking looks increasingly futile. But Tolan opens the prospect of a new beginning in a concluding account of how Jewish and Arab children have together planted seeds salvaged from one desiccated lemon tree planted long ago behind one stone house. A much-needed antidote to the cynicism of realpolitik.

The true story of a friendship between an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian Arab that transcends political tensions and violence.It is 1967. Three Palestinian men-Bashir Khairi and his cousins Yasser and Ghiath-are on a journey from Ramallah to see their childhood homes in al-Ramla. Yasser is turned away; Ghiath's is now a school. Bashir knows whether he may enter his old home depends on who answers the door. Dalia Eshkenazi, who has wondered "why would anyone voluntarily leave such a beautiful house," welcomes them despite misgivings, "sens[ing] a vulnerability in these young men [that makes her feel] safe." Dalia and her family, Holocaust survivors, had moved from Bulgaria to Palestine when she was just a baby. Welcoming the three men into her home opens the door to a connection, a bond between the Khairis and Eshkenazis, one that could represent hope and peace. The story unfolds in chapters that alternate between Dalia and Bashir along with chapters focusing on the histories of the land and of each family. In this young readers' adaptation of his 2006 book for adults of the same name, Tolan seamlessly weaves in the modern history of Palestine/Israel-including dates, roles played by leaders, and details from both Bashir's and Dalia's experiences. The writing is rich, especially when describing the house-it and its lemon tree form the center of this moving story.Captivating and complicated. (maps, author's note, sources) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

The title of this moving, well-crafted book refers to a tree in the backyard of a home in Ramla, Israel. The home is currently owned by Dalia, a Jewish woman whose family of Holocaust survivors emigrated from Bulgaria. But before Israel gained its independence in 1948, the house was owned by the Palestinian family of Bashir, who meets Dalia when he returns to see his family home after the Six-Day War of 1967. Journalist Tolan (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Me & Hank) traces the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the parallel personal histories of Dalia and Bashir and their families—all refugees seeking a home. As Tolan takes the story forward, Dalia struggles with her Israeli identity, and Bashir struggles with decades in Israeli prisons for suspected terrorist activities. Those looking for even a symbolic magical solution to that conflict won't find it here: the lemon tree dies in 1998, just as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process stagnates. But as they follow Dalia and Bashir's difficult friendship, readers will experience one of the world's most stubborn conflicts firsthand. 2 maps. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(May)

The true story of a friendship between an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian Arab that transcends political tensions and violence.It is 1967. Three Palestinian men-Bashir Khairi and his cousins Yasser and Ghiath-are on a journey from Ramallah to see their childhood homes in al-Ramla. Yasser is turned away; Ghiath's is now a school. Bashir knows whether he may enter his old home depends on who answers the door. Dalia Eshkenazi, who has wondered "why would anyone voluntarily leave such a beautiful house," welcomes them despite misgivings, "sens[ing] a vulnerability in these young men [that makes her feel] safe." Dalia and her family, Holocaust survivors, had moved from Bulgaria to Palestine when she was just a baby. Welcoming the three men into her home opens the door to a connection, a bond between the Khairis and Eshkenazis, one that could represent hope and peace. The story unfolds in chapters that alternate between Dalia and Bashir along with chapters focusing on the histories of the land and of each family. In this young readers' adaptation of his 2006 book for adults of the same name, Tolan seamlessly weaves in the modern history of Palestine/Israel-including dates, roles played by leaders, and details from both Bashir's and Dalia's experiences. The writing is rich, especially when describing the house-it and its lemon tree form the center of this moving story.Captivating and complicated. (maps, author's note, sources) (Nonfiction. 10-14)