Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine

"In this companion memoir to Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood (2007), Barakat continues her tale of growing up in Palestine from 1972-1981, a politically turbulent time... When her willingness to question and explore opens doors for her, Barakat receives encouragement and support from surprising sources, validating her sister's statement that 'being Palestinian teaches you to be ready for any destiny.' This is a compelling personal history, brimming with humor, wisdom, and empathy." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "This intense memoir paints a dark picture of growing up in Israeli-occupied Palestine, where 'we are made to live with no land, no country, no rights, no safety, and no respect for our dignity.' The author, a poet, picks up in 1971, where her earlier memoir, Tasting the Sky (2007), left off. She recounts her years from second grade through high school, dividing the book into five sections based on their different homes in Palestine. . . A poetic, deeply felt coming-of-age story." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "In this sequel to Tasting the Sky (2007), a memoir and winner of the Arab American Book Award, Barakat moves beyond her early school years during the Six-Day War and its uprooting aftermath. She focuses on the years 1971-81, when she--a feisty protofeminist--and her family shifted about in the occupied West Bank, trying to find a place that felt safe and like home. . .The beauty of the writing is its clear-eyed matter-of-fact-ness. Barakat doesn't plead for sympathy (political or emotional); she just recalls, in concrete detail, this particular world as she experienced it as a young woman, and the result is as inspiring as it is engrossing." --Booklist "Barakat's lovely, lyrical style depicts an adolescence that will be simultaneously familiar to readers in its universal themes (struggle to become one's own person, family life and its usual squabbles) and very different in its backdrop of 1970s Palestine...Barakat wonderfully captures the mood of the time and place once again. At times humorous and heartbreaking, this work will immerse readers in Barakat's experience, leaving them with--perhaps--a broadened worldview. . . Highly recommended for upper middle school and high school libraries." --School Library Journal

Picking up where Tasting the Sky left off, Balcony on the Moon follows Ibtisam Barakat through her childhood and adolescence in Palestine from 1972 to 1981 and chronicles her desire to be a writer. Ibtisam finds inspiration through writing letters to pen pals and from an adult who encourages her to keep at it, but the most surprising turn of all for Ibtisam happens when her mother decides that she would like to seek out an education, too. This memoir is a touching, at times funny, and enlightening look atthe not often depicted daily life in a politically tumultuous area.