Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood - Hardcover

Barakat, Ibtisam

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374357331 ISBN 13: 9780374357337

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2007

Synopsis

Winner, Arab American National Museum Book Award for Children's/YA Literature, among other awards and honors.

"When a war ends it does not go away," my mother says."It hides inside us . . . Just forget!"
But I do not want to do what Mother says . . . I want to remember.

In this groundbreaking memoir set in Ramallah during the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Ibtisam Barakat captures what it is like to be a child whose world is shattered by war. With candor and courage, she stitches together memories of her childhood: fear and confusion as bombs explode near her home and she is separated from her family; the harshness of
life as a Palestinian refugee; her unexpected joy when she discovers Alef, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. This is the beginning of her passionate connection to words, and as language becomes her refuge, allowing her to piece together the fragments of her world, it becomes her true home.

Transcending the particulars of politics, this illuminating and timely book provides a telling glimpse into a little-known culture that has become an increasingly important part of the puzzle of world peace.

About this title

About the Author

IBTISAM BARAKAT is a poet and educator who has worked with organizations such as the United Nations to facilitate a dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis. Tasting the Sky is her first book. She currently lives in Columbia, Missouri.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Tasting the Sky
Father turned to Mother. “We must leave now,” he said. His voice was sharp like a knife.
 
My brothers were ready. They held each other’s hands tightly. Mother had secured my baby sister between her arms. My father strained to see the road from behind the mound of clothes and blankets he carried. But in spite of my desperate attempts to obey my parents’ commands, my three-and-a-half-year-old hands were unable to lace up the one shoe I had put on. My right foot was still shoeless.
 
“Yamma, Yaba! Help me!” I cried in a hushed voice, lest I attract attention and we all die. But no one answered.
 
At that moment, a new wave of fleeing villagers rushed by.
As they disappeared, everything faded into stillness. And my family was gone.
 
Had they just walked into the crowd and left me behind? Fear dug a hole in my heart. I could not grasp what had happened.
I wanted to cry aloud, hurl their names across the darkness, but dread stifled my voice. I knew that the only hope for me was to instantly run in the same direction, leaving my shoe behind.
 
As I moved, sounds of distant gunshots and screeching swelled and then subsided. I kept running. When I looked behind, I could no longer see the giant shadow of our home. The world within and around me seemed to fade into the unknown. The gravel grated sharply into my skin. Once again, I commanded myself not to feel.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0374357331
• ISBN 13: 9780374357337
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176