Review : Where The Streets Had A Name

Assalamualikum w.b.t..

Title : Where The Streets Had A Name
Author : Randa Abdel - Fatteh
Publisher : Pan Macmillan (2008)

Synopsis:

I need to see Sitti Zeynab one last time. To know if I'll have the courage to go ahead with my plan.

The two nurses look frazzled. 'We must leave now',the say in urgent tones.

'I won't be long', I reassure them and jump up onto the back of the ambulance, kneeling over Sitti Zeynab.

 I press my lips close to her right ear. I want to say something so profound that she wakes up. But my mind is numb. All I can do is remember the walk we took through her memories the night before.

'Stay alive', I whisper. 'I'll let you touch the soil again.'

Thirteen-year-old Hayaat is on a mission. She believes a handful of soil from her grandmother's ancestral home in Jurusalem will save her beloved Sitti Zeynab's life. The only problem is the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank, as well as the checkpoint, the curfews, the permit system and Hayaat's best friend, Samy, who is mainly interested in football and the latest elimination on X Factor, yet always manages to attract trouble. 

But luck is on their side. Hayaat and Samy have a curfew-free day to travel to Jurusalem. However, while their journey is only a few kilometres long, it may take a lifetime to complete. 

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REVIEW:

Bagi aku cerita ni agak touching. Tak terbayang rasanya jika diri hidup sebagai anak Palestine yang dihalau keluar daripada tanah air sendiri. Novel ini berkisar tentang kehidupan kanak-kanak Arab Palestine, Hayaat dan keluarganya yang tinggal di Bethlehem, Tebing Barat. Sitti Zeynab adalah nenek kepada Hayaat yang menumpang tinggal di rumah mereka. Sitti Zeynab selalu menceritakan tentang tanah milik mereka dan betapa rindunya dia kepada tanah airnya yang telah dirampas oleh orang-orang Israel. 

Suatu hari Sitti Zeynab telah pengsan. Hayaat telah berjanji dengan neneknya untuk membenarkan neneknya menyentuh tanah air mereka sebelum neneknya menghembuskan nafas terakhir. Dengan itu bermulalah misi Hayaat untuk masuk ke Jurusalem bersama dengan kawan baiknya Samy semata-mata untuk mengambil sedikit tanah untuk diberikan kepada neneknya. Tanpa pengetahuan keluarganya secara senyap-senyap Hayaat dan Samy telah merancang untuk memasuki Jurusalem. Sepanjang perjalanan mereka pelbagai kesulitan ditempuhi, disebabkan kawalan yang ketat di setiap pintu masuk ke Jurusalem.

I take the jar from her.'Open your hands.' I pour some soil into her open palms.

'Jurusalem soil', I whisper.

I see her eyes and I know that every step of our journey was worth this moment.