A little girl and her family help a lost and confused stranger to find her way home in this moving story about compassion, aging and identity.
They reached a giant lemon tree. The old woman sat up, tapping an urgent finger against the window. 'Hay! Hay! Hanna zarr'et ha. Hay!' 'She's saying that Hanna planted this tree,' Mama said, as Dad pulled over. 'It's a beautiful tree, shajrah jameeleh,' Mama said to the old woman.
When a little girl, Safiya, and her family help Maryam, a lost and confused stranger by the side of the road, to find her way home, they begin to understand who she is and the rich and remarkable life she has lived. Through kind-natured Safiya, we come to see Maryam, a woman who had been made invisible by society because of her ethnicity, race, religion, language, age and now dementia.
With Arabic text interspersed throughout, A Lemon for Safiya is a wonderful exploration of language, diversity and culture.---from the publisher
32 pages 978-0734422224 Ages 5-8
Keywords: respecting others, diversity, diverse books, language, dementia, cultures, tree, getting old, the elderly, getting lost, helping others, understanding others, Arabic text, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old
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"It was Safiya who first spotted the woman sitting on the edge of the footpath, sock-sandalled feet in the gutter, busy cars speeding past."
And so begins a compassionate and compelling story of Safiya and her parents taking their time to find where the old woman has come from, because clearly the gutter is not her home. Yet no one else has bothered to stop to help this elderly lady who has become invisible to society because of her ethnicity, race, religion, language, age and now dementia - a story that is sadly echoed as so many develop tunnel vision as they race about their daily lives.
But to Safiya's family, particularly her mother who speaks Arabic and can communicate with the woman, she is neither invisible or ignored and not only do they manage to find her family but learn a little about the life she has lead, including the significance of the lemon she is clutching. "Every line on her face seemed to hold a story." The final image is touching and suggests that not only has Maryam lived many stories but a new one has begun.
As the Baby Boomer generation ages and dementia and other age-related illnesses take their toll, sadly there are many who seem to be forgotten and unseen by society generally and the isolation is compounded when communications break down through either a lack of English or the loss or memory. Luckily, Maryam's family had ensured she had an identity bracelet to help with just this situation but the fear of a loved one wandering off is ever-present.
While this story puts a face and personal context to this growing issue it is nevertheless a universal story - one playing out in so many families regardless of their heritage, language and beliefs. We can only hope that if Maryam were our elderly relative, it would be a Safiya who noticed her.
This review can also be found here.
Recommended by: Barbara Braxton, Teacher Librarian, New South Wales AUSTRALIA
See more of her rrecommendations:
500 Hats http://500hats.edublogs.org/
The Bottom Shelf http://thebottomshelf.edublogs.org/
