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Three Wishes
Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak
By
Deborah Ellis
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This book is about the children of the war-torn Middle East. Deborah Ellis, author of the enormously popular Breadwinner trilogy, turns her attention from the children of Afghanistan to the children of Israel and Palestine, presenting their stories based on interviews done in the winter of 2002 while in Israel and Palestine.
In a rehabilitation center for disabled children, twelve-year-old Nora says she loves the color pink and chewing gum and explains that the wheels of her wheelchair are like her legs. Eleven-year-old Mohammad describes how his house was demolished by soldiers. And we meet twelve-year-old Salam, whose older sister walked into a store in Jerusalem and blew herself up, killing herself and two people, and injuring twenty others.
All these children live both ordinary and extraordinary lives. They argue with their siblings. They hate spinach. They dream about their wishes for the future. They have also seen their homes destroyed, their families killed, and they live in the midst of constant upheaval and violence.
This simple and telling book allows children everywhere to see those caught in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as children just like themselves, but who are living far more difficult, dangerous lives. The book does not take sides, but it does present an unblinking portrait of how victimized these children are by the endless struggle that the adults around them seem unable or unwilling to resolve.
The text includes brief background information, black-and-white photographs taken by the author, a map, a glossary and suggestions for further reading.
AWARDS
Rocky Mountain Book Award
(2007: Shortlisted)
BC Teen Reader's Choice Award Stellar Awards
(2006: Nominee)
OLA Silver Birch Award
(2006: Nominee)
Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Award
(2005: Finalist)
CCBC Our Choice
(2005: Starred Selection)
Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) YA Top Forty (or so) List
(2005: Selected)
Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice - Best of the List
(2005: Selected)
Reviews of Three Wishes
"An accessible historical overview that is fair to all sides..."
- Booklist, starred review
"An excellent presentation of a confusing historic struggle, told within a palpable, perceptive and empathetic format."
- School Library Journal
"...a moving, sometimes chilling, expression of the disruption and distress created in young people's lives by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, as well as a reminder of the human capacity for hope and renewal."
- Quill & Quire
"That there is one list [of names], incorporating both Israelis and Palestinians, underscores the book's point that despite our differences, we're all human - and that dead is dead."
- Horn Book
"Yes, it is flawed... But it also gives a wrenching sense of childhood during a terrorist war, expressed in what appear to be genuine voices. It requires discussion after reader and would be an especially apt choice for school libraries. Recommended with reservations for Grades 5 to 12."
- Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter
"A balanced historical introduction provides background for the interviews in which children talk about how the choices other people have made have affected their lives.' Ellis alternates Israeli and Palestinian voices and prefaces each of the accounts by an informative discussion of pertinent issues and a profile of the interviewee and his/her experiences .... The candid and passionate voices in these narratives may be used to awaken interest and encourage discussion among young readers."
- Canadian Materials Magazine
"Here is a balanced and thought-provoking work recommended for school and public libraries."
- Multicultural Review
"...stirring...These young people come from diverse faiths - they are Jewish, Muslim and Christian - and yet it is the commonality of their experience that impresses the reader."
- Yellowknifer
Books by Deborah Ellis
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