Under the Persimmon Tree

 by Suzanne Fisher Staples

Summary:

             Najmah, a young Afghan girl, is left alone after her father and brother are captured by the Taliban. Najmah's mother and new born baby sister were just killed in an air raid. An American woman, Elaine, whose Islamic name is Nusrat, is also on her own. She waits out the war in Peshawar, Pakistan. Elaine has to wait for the Peshawar war to end. She is alone and is waiting for her husband, an Afghan doctor who runs a clinic in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan.

            Najmah finds herself alone a lot and listens to her father's advice of "follow the stars when you're lost". As Nusrat and Najmah look to the skies for answers, their fates come together. Najmah, looking for hope of her father and brother, begins a dangerous journey through the mountains to cross the border into Pakistan. Elaine has a school under a persimmon tree that she told Najmah about. She awaits Najmah there, and together, they both seek their way home.

Important Quotes:

" We live simply but we have plenty to eat: apples, nuts, apricots, pomegranates, and persimmons from the orchard, vegetables from the garden plot, wheat for bread, eggs, goats milk- and honey, too."- This quote explains there lifestyle and where they get food from.

"After her sisters death Elaine began a quest for meaning. She could not accept that the God of her childhood would take her little sister."-This quote explains the beginning of the plot of the story. It starts out the journey of Nusrat(Elaine) and Najmah to go save there loves.

Background Information:

In Afghanistan there are factions of people such as Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.  Al-Qaeda was led by Osama Bin- Laden, one of the leaders in the September 11 attack of 2001. Also, the Taliban is a group of men that have certain beliefs. They believe that all men must have a long beard, even if they are a boy. As a boy, they would have to buy a beard and wear it everywhere outside of the house. The leader of the Taliban is Mullah Muhammad Omar.  Omar grew up in a poor environment. As he grew older people followed from Afghanistan and Pakistan making the population of the Taliban greater. Now the Taliban is a great threat in the middle east.  

          Afghanistan Flag                                        Pakistan Flag

 Under the Persimmon Tree is available in paperback and hardcover.       

Opinions:

-This book is interesting. It is up to date and the setting takes place during current events. I like how it is at a time around current events because it makes it easier for me to understand. Under the Persimmon Tree was a good book.

-I think that this is a pretty good book as well. It is really realistic and you can picture the events in your mind. The author of the book did a great job making it as authentic as she could, there's even a dictionary at the end used for translating the foreign language.

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