Teen Review - The Book of Trees by Leanne Lieberman

The Book of Trees by Leanne Lieberman

In all honesty, it was a chore to get through the first few chapters of this book, but later on it was actually quite interesting. The author wrote about the adventures of a Jewish teen, Mia, born in Canada that spends her summer in Jerusalem. She finds herself caught between the acts that people demonstrate on behalf of their religion and all the rules and regulations of the country. She soon figures out that in order to be a Jew she has to act like one. She has to think like all the others do. And she knows its wrong. She came to Jerusalem to connect with it, but instead she needs an escape.
I learned that not everything is as picture perfect as people try and make it seem to be. The world isn't always "flowers and butterflies". There's more to the world than that. There's war, and racism, and cruelty. That's the reality. And for some people living in war torn countries, they figure that out much quicker than we do. There were many morals to this story about trust and faith and how they can be two completely different things. I realized that we rely on biased opinions to get our information and sometimes people become really narrow minded about it. The Book of Trees taught me that we need to open our minds and that it's all right to have your own opinion, just as long as you respect others. Respect is key. It's what makes peace. I think that if all the countries in the world and all the people in it tried to respect one another, no matter what the religion, or language, or backround, or government they come from for at least one day, they would see the change. Wars would end. Bullying would stop, so would our greed and selfishness ways. Humanity will be saved. Saved from destruction and evil. This book truly opened my eyes and all I want is to share it with others.

~ Symone

Kat's note: this book is on order in paperback. I'll let you know when it's in the catalog for you to place on hold.