Moushabeck, Hannah. Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2023.
My grandparents fled the USSR in the 1920s. My father was six years old. My mother was six months old. I grew up hearing stories of the revolution. Of soldiers, dressed in red, shooting men in front of my father, who as a result refused to wear anything red – not even the tie I once gave him for Christmas. He returned a dictionary – which he’d said he wanted – because the cover was red. I grew up hearing about the soldiers who imprisoned my maternal grandfather and only released him after much pleading. He had to find his way home – in the middle of the night and in the middle of the winter – dressed only in long underwear. It was a miracle he survived. Never did I think of Russia as my homeland. Governments, I knew, could change and flight might be the only safe choice. So I shouldn’t get too attached to where I lived.
But Russia was home to my ancestors for only 130 years. What is it like when a land has been your home for thousands of years?
Homeland – illustrated by Reem Madooh – tells the story of a little girl listening to her father talk about Palestine. About how – as a boy – he visited his grandparents in the Old City of Jerusalem. About how he would walk through the market – hearing calls for prayer and ringing church bells – and sit in cafes where poets and storytellers gathered. She sees the key – hanging in her house – for the home that was left behind when the family had to flee. Homeland is a story of remembered joys, of longing, and of hope. A glossary of Arabic words, an author’s note and four family photographs accompany this thought-provoking picture book highly recommended for readers of all ages.
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