Under the Persimmon Tree

Under the Persimmon Tree

by SuzanneFisherStaples (Author)

Synopsis

Northern Afghanistan, 2001. When the Taliban takes her brother and father to be soldiers and the bombing of her tiny village kills her mother and baby brother, Najmah makes a dangerous journey over the mountains to Pakistan. Here she meets Elaine, an American woman waiting for her doctor husband to return from the front. Najmah joins Elaine's refugee school under the persimmon tree, until, sure that both their families are dead, Elaine tries to persuade her to go to America. But when Najmah's brother arrives at the school, still alive, she bravely decides to return with him to the village of their birth.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Publisher: Walker Books
Published: 06 Feb 2006

ISBN 10: 0744555973
ISBN 13: 9780744555974
Children’s book age: 12+ Years

Media Reviews
Staples powerfully and honestly expresses the plight of a civilization caught between terrorists and American bombs. -- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review As with her Newbery Honor Book, SHABANU (1989), it's the personal story, not the history, that compels as it takes readers beyond the modern stereotypes of Muslims as fundamentalist fanatics. There's hope in heartbreaking scenes of kindness and courage. -- Booklist, Starred Review Readers...will welcome this fascinating glimpse into a world about which far too little has been written. -- School Library Journal Staples brings beautiful, war-torn Afghanistan closer in this affecting, eye-opening novel. -- Kirkus Reviews The book manages to make the sometimes distant-seeming conflict immediate and vivid to American readers. A poignant picture of the cost of regional and global turmoil. -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Staples's prose is spare yet taut with emotion, creating a rich, powerful story that young readers will devour and that all school and classroom libraries should stock. -- VOYA
Author Bio
Suzanne Fisher Staples is a former United Press International news reporter who has worked in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. She is the award-winning author of many acclaimed books for young readers set in south Asia and the Middle East, including Shiva's Fire and The Green Dog. She lives in Pennsylvania, USA.