 Randa
Abdel-Fattah
Randa's Website
http://www.randaabdelfattah.com/
Author information:
Randa Abdel-Fattah is the award-winning author of young adult novels
Does My Head Look Big in This? and Ten Things I Hate About
Me. She is 28 and has her own identity hyphens to contend with
(Australian-born-Muslim-Palestinian-Egyptian-choc-a-holic). Randa is active
in the interfaith community and a member of the Coalition for Peace and
Justice in Palestine. Randa also works as a lawyer and lives in Sydney with
her husband, Ibrahim, and their two children. Her books have received
acclaim around the world. Most recently, Randa was awarded the Kathleen
Mitchell Award, a biennial literary award that acknowledges excellence in
writers under 30.
Book Information:
‘A poignant, funny and timely novel. I loved it.’ MELINA MARCHETTA
author of Looking for Alibrandi
Synopsis:
"I need to see Sitti Zeynab one last time. To know if I will have the
courage to go ahead with my plan. The two nurses look frazzled and smile
wearily at me. 'We must leave now,' they say in urgent tones. 'I won't be
long,' I reassure them and I jump up onto the back of the ambulance.
"I can smell the air of her village, pure and scented. I can see her
village as though it were Bethlehem itself. I can smell the almond trees.
Hear my heels click on the courtyard tiles. See myself jumping two steps at
a time down the limestone stairs. I can see Sitti Zeynab sitting in the
front porch of the house. I only have to remember that walk through her
memories and I know I can make my promise. I've already lost once. I refuse
to lose again. 'Stay alive,' I whisper. 'And you shall touch that soil
again.'"
Thirteen-year-old Hayaat is on a mission. She believes a handful of soil
from her grandmother's ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved
Sitti Zeynab's life. The only problem is the impenetrable wall that divides
the West Bank, as well as the check points, the curfews, the permit system
and Hayaat's best friend Samy, who is mainly interested in football and the
latest elimination on X-Factor, but always manages to attract trouble.
But luck is on their side. Hayaat and Samy have a curfew-free day to
travel to Jerusalem. However, while their journey may only be a few
kilometres long, it may take a lifetime to complete.
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