Ida in the Middle
Written by Nora Lester Murad
Published by Interlink Publishing Group, Incorporated
Every time violence erupts in the Middle East, Ida knows what’s coming next. Some of her classmates treat her like it’s all her fault—just for being Palestinian! In eighth grade, Ida is forced to move to a different school. But people still treat her like she’ll never fit in. Ida wishes she could disappear.
One day, dreading a final class project, Ida hunts for food. She discovers a jar of olives that came from a beloved aunt in her family’s village near Jerusalem. Ida eats one and finds herself there—as if her parents had never left Palestine! Things are different in this other reality—harder in many ways, but also strangely familiar and comforting. Now she has to make some tough choices. Which Ida would she rather be? How can she find her place?
Ida’s dilemma becomes more frightening as the day approaches when Israeli bulldozers are coming to demolish another home in her family’s village…
Primary ISBN: 9781623718060
Available As: Hardcover
Middle Grade, Age 12 or older
Community Represented: Palestinian/Palestinian American
Themes: Coming of Age, Discrimination: Racial, Engagement Tool: Video, Family Relationship: Parents, Family Relationship: Siblings, Generation: 1st, Genre: Fantasy & Folklore, Multilingual Character, Own Voices/Lived Experience
Setting: United States, Palestine
Character’s New Arrival/New American Status: 1st Generation
Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience
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