Posts Tagged love

Light Years by Tammar Stein

January 5, 2009 at 11:25 pm · Filed under young adult novels ·Tagged , ,

Like many people, I’m thinking a lot about Israel these days. I think that this week, as I get back on track with blogging, I’ll focus on some great Israel books. I’ve already blogged about my new favorite YA Israel novel — Freefall by Anna Levine — now it’s time to go back a bit and blog about one of my other favorite YA Israel novels: Light Years by Tammar Stein.

Light Years

Light Years

Light Years tells the story of Maya, an Israeli young woman who is just finishing her army service when a suicide bombing blows up a restaurant where her boy friend was waiting for her. The trouble is: she was trying to figure out whether to tell him she was going to still go to the U.S. to go to college, even though he didn’t want her to go.  The story is wonderful — the way it carries you back and forth between Maya’s present, where she’s in college in Virginia, and her past, in Israel with Dov in the time leading up to and following the bombing. It’s a great love story — as Maya remembers what it was to be in love with Dov, and what it means to now be falling for someone else.

But more than anything else, it takes you right back to Israel. To the way it feels to be in Israel — not with the threat of bombings, but rather with the taste of the food, the smell of the air, the way people relate to one another. It’s one of those books you don’t put down once you start reading it, that captures you. It’s one of those books that even in the cold beginning of January, in the safety of America, you remember what it feels like to be back in Israel.

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Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

September 29, 2008 at 5:24 pm · Filed under young adult novels ·Tagged ,

 

Twilight

Twilight

OK, it’s moments before Rosh Hashanah is set to begin and I just want to get one last post in before the New Year. I’ve thought about closing with one last Rosh Hashanah book but truthfully, at some point over the next few days (if you celebrate Rosh Hashanah), you are going to be looking for something really great to read. Run, don’t walk, and pick up Twilight. In fact, you might as well also pick up New Moon because you will finish Twilight much quicker than you thought (even though it is 500 pages). Trust me. I wound up having to take an emergency late night trip to Target while on a business trip. Not pretty.

 

I have found a new friend. Actually, a new set of friends — some human, most not — all imaginary. In the past week, I’ve read almost 1,500 pages of this series meant for teens while still going to work, playing with my kids and hanging out with my husband. I will admit that I am an avid YA reader but this is a whole different world for me. This book put me right back in the land of first love, in the world where “love” consumed your every thought, where the object of your affection was more intoxicating than anything else. I grant you, it might not be a place you want to return to. But if you don’t remember what it feels like, read this book. (Let me just be clear, I’m not talking about real love, I’m talking about young love.)

 

New Moon

New Moon

By the way, I’m rationalizing this posting because it is a book written for children (or teens). However, there is probably not a teenager out there who hasn’t read it or at least heard of it. This posting is for you — who needs a good book to sink into.

 

OK, I should mention it also has vampires in it but ignore that. It’s not really about that.

All the best to you all and I’ll be back on Thursday!

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Freefall by Anna Levine

September 14, 2008 at 8:03 am · Filed under young adult novels ·Tagged , , ,

I’m so excited about Freefall by Anna Levine for a number of reasons:

  1. It’s written by an author I love
  2. It’s a great YA read
  3. It takes place in modern day Israel
Freefall

Freefall

Freefall tells the story of Aggie, an 18 year old girl getting ready to start her compulsary military service. But while she’s at it, she’s also falling in love, discovering her personal strength and learning who she is.

Anna Levine does a great job of making this first and foremost a story about an 18 year old girl, with Israel, the 2nd Lebanon War and the issues it bring up in the background. When I was 18, I don’t think I could have made the choice Aggie is faced with. As much as I would have wanted to jump on a train to the North to help out while rockets were flying, I’m just not sure that I would have done it. And I certainly wouldn’t have been able to make the choice to become a soldier instead of doing national service, as girls like Aggie choose between. But that’s the difference between living in North America and living in Israel and that’s what makes this book such a good read: it’s easy to close your eyes and picture yourself right beside Aggie, making the same choices, falling in love.

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