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Dec 02, 2010

Steph rated it:

The Middle East is such a rare setting to see in books for teenagers, and I found this to be such an interesting, intelligent and thought-provoking book that also managed to be funny, despite such heavy content. Hayaat was a likeable protagonist, and I really felt as I was reading her need to save her grandmother.

I really enjoyed one of Randa Abdel-Fattah's earlier novels Does My Head Look Big In This?, which I think is a really wonderful book, but it is dramatically different from W More...

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Nov 25, 2011

Ari rated it:

This is going to sound so silly to people but I was quite bothered by all the mentions of 'farting' in the book. I know I'm persnickety but I just didn't think it continually needed to be mentioned. And I'm pretty sure someone farts and another character takes note of it in every single chapter. On a more serious note, this story moves at a snail's pace. Hayaat doesn't form the idea for heading for Jerusalem until we are more than a few chapters in which I thought was frustrating. What made it m More...

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Oct 30, 2011

Izziewizzy rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 23, 2011

Emily rated it:

This book gave me the chills many times as I read it. The middle of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict isn’t the obvious choice for a young adult setting, but through the eyes of her thirteen-year-old protagonist Hayaat, Abdel-Fattah brings a segment of Palestinian culture - the Muslims and Christians of Bethlehem - to life in a tragic, humorous and altogether engaging story.

The mission referred to in the synopsis is a major part of the book but more important is the depiction of Hay More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2011

Lisa rated it:

What a great idea for a book. This is about a Palastinian family living in the West Bank. They have lost their land in Jerusalem and to add insult to injury, they are forbidden to even go there since they are now "green cards". When 13-year-old Hayatt's grandmother is rushed to the hospital, she decides to do something really special for her so she can regain her strength: she will find a way to sneak into Jerusalem and retrieve some soil from her ansestral home. Jerusalmem is only More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 16, 2011

Sweet on Books rated it:

I was inspired to do more research on the West Bank and the Palestinian people after reading this story and hope that young readers will do the same, so that they may draw their own conclusions in this complicated situation. Perhaps, years from now, one of Abdel-Fattah’s young readers will emerge as a future leader, someone with a unique concept to foster peace in this tormented region of the world. Until then, it is essential that we support books like this one, regardless of whether or not we More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Wally rated it:

Hayyat is a Palestinian girl who lives in Bethlehem with her family, including her aging and ailing grandmother. When the grandmother gets sick, she and her best friend, a Christian boy, make a dangerous journey to Jerusalem to find a handful of soil that Hayyat believes will help save her grandmother’s life.
I really liked this book. Hayyat and all of her friends and family are entirely believable and human, with lots of feeling and individuality. The setting might require a map to real More...

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Jul 19, 2011

Denise rated it:

(Note: I actually listened to the audiobook version of this book, but am having trouble updating through IE8 - will hopefully update and remove this comment at a later time).

I will admit, I began this book almost entirely ignorant of the situation in the Middle East. I would catch bits and pieces of information on the news, but never really processed them as a whole. I would like to thank the author for helping tell the story in a way that makes me curious to further explore the cu More...

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Jan 15, 2011

thewanderingjew rated it:

This tale, told pretty much through the eyes and experiences of a 13 year old Palestinian child named Hayaat, is tender, tragic and humorous all at the same time. It seeks to illuminate the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in a gentle and largely non-confrontational way. It is told in simple truths, although the truth is often only on one side of the issue. Still, I would recommend it as a teaching tool in the middle grades so that this side of the issue, rarely covered, is explored mor More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 09, 2009

Larissa rated it:

Hayaat is not your average thirteen year old; she will break laws and risk her life, and all for her ill grandmother.

Hayaat has grown up in Bethlehem but it is not where she was born. She is a Muslin and also a Palestinian, but most importantly she is a girl, a child living under occupation in the West Bank. Her life is a mixture of good days; going to school or skipping it to spend time with her friend Samy, and bad days; being locked in her home during curfew with her family for days More...

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May 21, 2011

Paula rated it:

One of the hardest things to do in fiction is tackle a complex issue and still deliver an engaging story.

Randa Abdel-Fattah, a Muslim of Palestinian and Egyptian heritage who grew up in Melbourne, has a strong literary track record of tackling the challenging topic of being a teenage girl of Middle Eastern descent in urban Australia.

Her breakthrough first novel, Does my head look big in this?, was a witty and enjoyable story about an Australian-Palestinian Muslim who decides More...

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Jul 23, 2011

Rebecca added it

There aren’t too many young adult novels set in the Middle East. Where the Streets had a Name is quite a refreshing and different read as it is set in the Middle East. Hayaat is on a mission to get soil from her grandmother’s home so that her grandmother will heal and get better health wise.
I really liked reading about Hayaat’s story as she told it. There was a lot of hinting about what had happened to Hayaat’s face but you don’t find out for quite a while. I thought that Hayaat was a More...

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Jan 18, 2011

Dolly rated it:

I won this book through Goodreads "Giveaways" and I am very thankful for the opportunity to read this book. It was such a sincere and heartfelt story and a small glimpse into life in the disputed territories in and around Israel and the West Bank. Life, death, love, hate, heartache and sorrow, joy and celebration...we see a little of all of this in this story and it was a very enchanting tale. People are shown as human - their anger, fear, compassion, and frustration come through cl More...

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Nov 18, 2008

Andrew rated it:

Abdel-Fattah leaves her familiar subject of ethnic Australia, and explores the characters of youths living in a troubled society in the Middle East. However, this story, whilst tragic, is also very funny and uplifting, and celebrates the strength and hope that we can still gain through family, even in the harshest circumstances.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 28, 2010

sharon rated it:

Physically and emotionally scarred, but spunky, Palestinian
thirteen-year old, Hayaat, lives behind the Israeli built Separation
Wall in the West Bank City of Bethlehem. When her beloved grandmother
falls ill, Hayaat decides to make her way to Jerusalem on a quest to
fill an empty hummus jar with soil from the land of her grandmother's
ancestral home. She is certain that this will mend her grandmother's
heart. Unfortunately, although Jerusalem is mere minutes away More...

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Jun 14, 2011

Amira rated it:

Randa Abdel-Fattah is a brilliant writer. In her novel, she tackles a very serious and dark issue (Palestinian/Israeli conflict) with hope, compassion and surprisingly great humour. Hayaat, the main protagonist and narrator of the story is a 13-year-old Palestinian girl who lives with her family in the West Bank after the Israeli forces confiscated their land and drove them out of their home. Hayaat 's mission throughout the novel is to sneak into Jerusalem and bring back soil from her beloved d More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 21, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

When I was a child I had a very vague sense of global conflicts in other countries. Because of my Bloom County comics I knew a bit about apartheid in South Africa. Later as a teen I heard The Cranberries sing “Zombie” and eventually learned a bit about the troubles in Northern Ireland. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict, however, had a lousy pop culture PR department. Nowhere in the whole of my childhood did I encounter anything that even remotely explained the problems there. Heck it wasn’t More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2011

Becky marked it as to-read

I liked this author's Does my head look big in this? a lot.

Goodreads description:

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 checkpoints, the curfews, and Hayaat's best friend Samy, who is always a troublemaker. But luck is on their side. Hayaat and Samy have a curfe More...

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Jul 09, 2011

Sherry rated it:

This was a fun book to read, but I could have used without the frequent remarks to "farting". I love the relationship that she has with her grandmother. Not unlike my own. The reader immediately gets the intense love and bond between them. I love the relationship she has with her friend Samy....even though he is a boy...this reminds me of my own relationship with Totsie and how we seemed to balance each other out from 3rd grade on. This is a good read for middle school but I feel More...

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Feb 19, 2012

Kristen rated it:

Where the Streets Had a Name is a tale set in Palestine. Hayaat is a young girl who cares deeply for her family. When her grandmother's life is in danger, she decides she must cross over into Jerusalem to bring her back a handful of dirt from her original home. The story she was told by her grandmother moved her deeply and she believes this is the only way to save her. Her best friend Samy accompanies her, but they find a difficult journey ahead, as they do not have the correct permits to travel More...

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Feb 14, 2011

Lydia rated it:

Hayaat, and her friend Samy, take off on an adventure to cross the border from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, to provide Hayaat's grandmother with soil from her homeland before she dies. Yet this book is about so much more than that one prevalent theme.

Abdel-Fattah, again provides insight to the Muslim and Christian communities in the Middle East. Her portrayal of Hayaat and her family fills the reader with no sympathy, but an understanding of the strength that supports people on both sides o More...

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Nov 14, 2011

Nicola rated it:

This book really took me by surprise! I found the description only mildly intriguing but decided to give it a go anyway and I'm really glad I did. Hayaat's journey to Jerusalem is only a small part of this tale. It's much more to do with family and friends and grief. I thought Hayaat's family was very amusing and felt very real. I enjoyed all of her conversations with her grandmother. I liked how much she grew as a person throughout the book and that we got some more insight into her dad. This b More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2011

Lauredhel rated it:

I think this book suffered a little from the tyranny of high expectations, for me. I loved Abdel-Fattah's other books, but I felt this one struggled just a little to find an engaging voice. It felt a bit too much like a deliberately-written schoolbook ("a Palestinian Muslim, a Christian, and two Jews walk into Jerusalem..."). It wasn't a bad book by any means, and the descriptions of the daily grind in occupied Palestine were worthwhile, but it just lacked the verve I was expecting fro More...

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Nov 05, 2011

Karyn rated it:

This was a great book, which had the effect of making me google some related facts to get some more background to the story. Having just read the 'Yesterday when the War began' series recently, I was thinking of the parallels to this families plight and able to put myself in her shoes even better. I laughed and cried, and it made me think. I think this could be a very important book for people to gain another perspective on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I would definitely recommend reading i More...

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Jan 29, 2012

Anne rated it:

I picked up this book when I was at the library looking for possible books to read in my classroom. My curriculum currently covers Southwest Asia, and will cover it again once the curriculum changes last year, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is something I find interesting to explain to my students - mostly because I don't know how. I once made a comment about how difficult it was to boil it down for students, and a friend responded that if I could figure out how to do that, share that wi More...

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Jan 08, 2011

Ryan rated it:

Hayaat is a teen-aged girl I recognize - more "western" than I expected, but she made the world of permanent refugee status and random curfews available. I suspect that there are characteristics shared by teens regardless of culture.

The simple descriptions of life are what moved me most. Long-anticipated dinner guests forced to stay until a curfew was lifted. The complicated travel to her sister's wedding. The rush to the grocery store to stock up in anticipation of...in my More...

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Jan 17, 2011

Sara rated it:

4.5 stars. I received a free copy of this book through the First Reads program, and what a great book it was! Hayaat is a Muslim girl living in the West Bank with her family. One night, her grandmother tells her a story about where she used to live in Jerusalem before being forced to move; although Jerusalem is only 6 miles away from where they live, because of the Wall and checkpoints, they are unable to visit it, and her grandma says she'd like to touch Jerusalem soil before she dies. Haya More...

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Jan 27, 2011

Lily rated it:

Where the streets had a name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews.

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 checkpoints, the curfews, and Hayaat's best friend Samy, who is always a troublemaker. But luck is on their side. Hayaat and Samy have a c More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 13, 2010

Jamie rated it:

As a child, and even as a young adult, I knew of there being conflicts in the Middle East; however, I had no idea what was really going on. It wasn't until I went to college and became a Religious Studies major that I really understood the history of the Middle East, its religions, and the strife that's resulted. Where the Streets Had a Name is a book I wish had been around when I was a kid. It is an excellent view into the life of a young girl in Palestine trying to get into forbidden Jerusalem More...

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May 21, 2010

Tigger rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)