The Book of Trees

Gr 9 Up—Tired of her life of clubbing and singing in a band, Mia Quinn turns to Judaism to find direction and earns a scholarship to a girls' seminary in Jerusalem. But when she doesn't fit in and is uninspired by her classes, she begins to explore the city, struggling to make sense of the intense political situation. She befriends Andrew, an American street performer, and he soon becomes her confidant and romantic interest. After reading a book about the displacement of Arabs from Israel in 1948 and witnessing a bus bombing, Mia leaves the seminary, becomes sexually involved with Andrew, and joins the cause to rebuild Palestinian homes. While it is understandable that an inquisitive teenager would refuse to accept everything that she is taught, and Mia's decision to leave the school (and the confines of Orthodox Judaism) is inevitable, it doesn't make sense that she would so readily accept everything she reads in one small paperback and believe everything that she hears from Andrew's friends. Mia comments: "I wanted to untangle who was right or wrong, but I didn't have the whole story." Unfortunately, with no positive adults (or even better-informed young adults) to help her sort through her complicated questions, Lieberman fails to provide readers with even a small part of the whole story. The lack of historical background information, balance, and perspective makes it difficult to recommend this book. Sarah Glidden's How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less (Vertigo, 2010) and Marc Aronson's Unsettled: The Problem of Loving Israel (S & S, 2008) do a much better job of providing a context for exploring the complicated, highly charged issues surrounding the Israeli-Arab conflict.—Rachel Kamin, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, Highland Park, IL