Thursday, March 31, 2011

Glidden, Sarah. How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less

Glidden, Sarah How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less
DC Comics see Random 2010 206p 28.99
978-1-4012-2233-8 hs Israel VG-BN


Sarah Glidden, a secular American Jew, took a Birthright trip to Israel. Well-written and moving, this graphic novel will keep the reader hooked from beginning to end. Glidden’s watercolor illustrations are accurate to the places described and add much flavor to this travelogue of self-identification and discovery.
Sarah Glidden, a secular American Jew, took a Birthright trip to Israel. These free trips are designed to show young Jews from around the world what modern Israel is like. Glidden, skeptical of the Israeli government policies towards the Palestinians, begins her trip around the country determined to find fault with the “propaganda” she is sure she is going to hear. As the trip progresses, she begins to discover that there are no black-and-white answers to her questions, no single truth that will change anything and everything. Her graphic memoir moves around the country from Tel Aviv to the Golan Heights to Jerusalem, Masada, and the Negev. Everywhere she goes with her tour, complete with an armed soldier, offers her a dichotomy of viewpoints. How can she reconcile the history of the Jewish people with that of the Arabs? Her painful attempts at balancing all the information and pulling out the truths she is sure she will find reflect, to a great extent, the views of many Israelis as well. Well-written and moving, this graphic novel will keep the reader hooked from beginning to end. Glidden’s watercolor illustrations are accurate to the places described and add much flavor to this travelogue of self-identification and discovery. While its primary focus is on a Jewish girl traveling through Israel, its appeal should be much more widespread. Graphic novel Ogintz, Susan

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