This is one book you will continue to think about-long after you've finished it! Set in contemporary Israel, this story is narrated by many voices. Sixteen-year-old Thomas from Germany has come to volunteer at a kibbutz outside of Jerusalem. He has also come seeking answers to the questions he has about his grandfather, a Nazi soldier during World War II. Coming to get him at the airport is Vera, a Russian girl now living and working at the kibbutz. Sameh Lahm, a Palestinian, illegally working at a diner near the airport tells his story of hardship during the occupation. We hear other voices: a Holocaust survivor also working at the kibbutz who comes to be Thomas' friend. Sameh's boss at the Diner. Omah who convinces Sameh to be a shaheed---a suicide bomber.
Hour by hour, person by person, this story tells their lives and the many others that intersect in one violent moment on a highway outside Jerusalem. I enjoyed reading the different voices and perspectives but it was a chilling story of how someone could come to the decision to do this.
Why do age-old hatreds and violence continue? Can peace ever come to the Middle East? How can people come to be able to peacefully live together?
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