WHERE THE STREETS HAD A NAME

Hayaat, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl, has a disfiguring scar from an incident of violence that killed her best friend. Her family tries to make sense out of the chaos they live in, suffering heartache yet clinging to hope. Narrator Kellie Jones never allows bitterness toward Israelis to creep into Hayaat's tone, instead presenting a bright youngster with an adventurous, indomitable spirit. This audiobook begins with a glossary of Palestinian terms. Unfortunately, presenting a glossary at the beginning of a listening experience is both distracting and inconvenient, particularly for young listeners. Without context clues, by the time the terms appear in the story, the listener has likely forgotten their meaning. It’s too bad because, otherwise, Jones does a fine narration of an underexplored subject: the problems faced by Palestinian families living in occupied territory. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2011]