A Map of Home

Starred review from June 30, 2008
Jarrar's sparkling debut about an audacious Muslim girl growing up in Kuwait, Egypt and Texas is intimate, perceptive and very, very funny. Nidali Ammar is born in Boston to a Greek-Egyptian mother and a Palestinian father, and moves to Kuwait at a very young age, staying there until she's 13, when Iraq invades. A younger brother is born in Kuwait, rounding out a family of complex citizenships. During the occupation, the family flees to Alexandria in a wacky caravan, bribing soldiers along the way with whiskey and silk ties. But they don't stay long in Egypt, and after the war, Nidali's father finds work in Texas. At first, Nidali is disappointed to learn that feeling rootless doesn't make her an outsider in the States, and soon it turns out the precocious and endearing Arab chick isn't very different from other American girls, a reality that only her father may find difficult to accept. Jarrar explores familiar adolescent ground—stifling parental expectations, precarious friendships, sensuality and first love—but her exhilarating voice and flawless timing make this a standout.

August 15, 2008
Born in the United States to a Palestinian father and an Egyptian mother of Greek descent, Nidali begins life with an identity crisis on many levels. Originally assumed to be a boy, she is given a name that means "strife" or "struggle" by her father, who adds the feminizing "i" when he realizes that she is actually a girl. The family moves to Kuwait when Nidali is a baby and lives there until Iraq invades the country on Nidali's 13th birthday, forcing them to flee to Alexandria, Egypt, and eventually to Texas. Jarrar's debut novel is a coming-of-age tale told from Nidali's perspective, spanning her birth through acceptance into college. Since her parents fight constantly and her father is abusive, school serves as a refuge throughout, as Nidali studies hard, establishes friendships, and faces issues of belonging, parental expectations, religion, sexual experimentation, and rebellion. This wonderfully engaging work has vivid descriptions of the different places Nidali lives and the culture she grows up in; the only negative is that the novel is perhaps unnecessarily laced with strong language, which may make it less universally appealing. Highly recommended.Sarah Conrad Weisman, Corning Community Coll., NY

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2008
Ah, eccentric families. In Jarrars first novel, the lovable Ammars are talkative, argumentative, and so alive they practically burst off the page. At the center of the story is Nidali, daughter of a Palestinian father and a Greek Egyptian (piano-playing) mother. Born in Boston, her childhood is spent first in Kuwait and then, when her family is forced to flee during the Gulf War, Egypt and eventually Houston. Permeated by Nidalis yearning to understand her identityparticularly her Palestinian rootsNidali is an astute observer, and Jarrars novel could be her diary.Unfortunately, this means we have to accompany her through a somewhat painful adolescence, along with a forbidden first romance with the pleasantly sarcastic Fakhr, and later the loss of her virginity to a Houstonian. Some of the sex scenes are so explicit, they are unnerving, but Jarrar is sophisticated and deft, and her impressive debut is especially intriguing considering her clever use of recent Middle East history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)