This large (9×11) hardback book is for the most part gorgeously illustrated in sepia tones, but the story is only 11 pages long; a pretty steep price point for 11 pages. A story nestled with in a story, the premise of bringing to light a not well-known historical figure is admirable, but with no sourcing, it is hard to know what is real, and what is legend. The concept and angle of being a freedom fighter and resisting colonization is timely, sadly it lacks the inspiration that I feel the author set out to convey. I read the book a few times, and still had to Google a map of Mysore, Tipu Sultan and the role of the French in the subcontinent in the 1700s. It would seem a book dedicated to the children of Palestine, defining words of freedom fighter, colonization, and imperialism before the book even begins, would answer the basic questions about the hero at hand.
The book starts with an old man feeling gentlemanly wearing a bush shirt, chatting with his grand daughter who is being corrected to call him Dada Jaan instead of Grandpa. He then gets lost in thought and begins to tell his grand daughter the power of names to emphasize his point. Tipu Sultan, known as the Tiger of Mysore, he tells her, “fought the British, who had come to colonize the Indian subcontinent.”
He doesn’t so much as convey the information in an entertaining way, as he lists off details and then pulls out to make sure she is still listening. He tells her about the British East India Company draining the wealth of the subcontinent by taking tea, cotton, gems and spices. He tells how Tipu “studied Islam, spoke many languages, and was a pioneer in rocket artillery.” He credits Tipu’s rockets as revolutionizing warfare all around the world, and connects India, France and America as fighting off their Imperial colonizers, with the French being close allies in India’s struggle against the British.
Once her Dada Jaan’s retelling is through, and Tipu has lost, and Mysore falls, the little girls ponders over the story and years later appreciates her Dada Jaan in his traditional tunic rather than his bush shirt from before.
The book is in many ways needs to be fleshed out, sourced, and the messages articulated for today’s readers.
There are so few Palestinian middle grade books, so on that premise alone this 216 page book has a lot of value. Because I am not Palestinian, I do not live, nor have I ever lived under occupation, I can argue some of the concerns from a point of privilege, and I acknowledge that is not my right. I have been asked numerous times about this book and how it frames the suicide bombing mentioned in the text and blurbed about on the back of the book. It honestly is not a large part of the story, that being said, in my outside privileged view, I do not know that a 10 year old in the west will have context to understand the act of this level of desperation from the oppression and humiliation mentioned in the book. This is why I have held off my review. The truth does not need to be defended or explained, and I fear my reservations will be taken as such, which is not my intention. Would I let me 8 year old read this, yes, but we will read it together and discuss. My children are aware of what is going on in Palestine, but Karim, the 12-year-old protagonist supports the bomber, and that notion is not clearly pushed back on. With discussion, absolutely, I think readers, will truly get Karim’s perspective that something has to be done to change the status quo. The fear when Karim is alone and the target of soldiers, the settlers forcibly seizing the family land, the humiliation of strip searching men at checkpoints, the curfews, and constant fear of attack and imprisonment are all presented through the main character’s eyes, and would also do better with some discussion, so that empathy and duas and action can result. But, the commentary as to the suicide bombing are minimal, there is even a prank package bombing that is presented as rebellion by a side character, and I would worry how a young child, without guidance, would internalize it. Additionally, this is yet another difficult book for me to review, primarily because it was first published in 2003, and because I don’t know how much comes from a western gaze and how much the Palestinian voice played into it. Islam is clear on the prohibition of suicide. In the early 2000 the news out of Israel was often about such attacks, but as an outsider, I honestly do not know if it was simply Israeli propaganda and stereotypes amplifying the idea as part of their public relations strategy or reality, seeing as now that Palestinians have direct outlets to share their daily life under an oppressive occupation, there is rarely talk of suicide bombing attacks. The author states on her website:
Islamic School Librarian 