A Bottle in the Gaza Sea [Hardcover]

Valerie Zenatti (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 1, 2008

Bottle in the Gaza Sea should be THE novel for teens on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. When teen Tal Levine witnesses a bombing in Tel Aviv, she becomes despondent. Like so many people, she wants Israel and Palestine to live in peace. One day she puts her hopes into a letter, places the letter into a bottle, and gives it to her brother, asking him to toss it into the Gaza Sea. A young man in Gaza finds the bottle, and responds. He is critical, angry, annoyed at first, but eventually they both participate in a friendship that ultimately opens their eyes.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–8—Told primarily through emails, this is the story of two young people on opposite sides of a political chasm: Naïm is Palestinian and lives in Gaza, and Tal is Israeli and lives in Jerusalem. Brought up in a family committed to Israeli-Palestinian peace, 17-year-old Tal writes a note, puts it in a bottle, and asks her brother, who is serving in the Israeli army, to throw the bottle into the sea in Gaza. Instead, he places it in the sand on the beach, and it is picked up by Naïm. Thus begins the email correspondence between "Gazaman" and "Bakbouk." As they slowly feel each other out, the teens begin to develop trust, friendship, and perhaps even something more. Their thoughts about their lives and about the political situation are carefully presented, and their musings and growing relationship constitute the central action of the novel. This smooth and unobtrusive translation starts out slowly and takes nearly one hundred pages to reach out and grab readers. The second half is compelling, but the ending is abrupt and feels unfinished. The book's appeal is likely to lie in the fact that these two characters are regular kids, yet are unusual in their sense of themselves as different from the people around them. They are caught in a situation not of their own making, they are not understood by the world, and they show, as young people often do, the simple and direct humanity of people of good will.—Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City
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From Booklist

Zenatti’s Batchelder Honor Book, When I Was a Soldier (2005), is a memoir about her conflicts while serving in the Israeli army. This docu-novel is more messagey. It begins when 17-year-old Tal, in Tel Aviv, sends out a bottle with a peace message that includes her e-mail address. Naïm, 20, finds it on the beach in Gaza, and replies. Contrived setup aside, readers will be caught by the immediate personal and political drama, as the two young people speak in instant messages, e-mails, and first-person narratives with anger, sympathy, humor, and sorrow about their history and their daily lives—what separates them (they live just 40 miles apart, but it feels like 6,000), and what connects them, including their shared opposition to fundamentalists and their longing for peace. They also worry about each other, especially when Tal witnesses a bombing in her neighborhood. The Romeo-and-Juliet scenario, translated from the French, will draw teens, as will the urgent headline issues. Grades 7-12. --Hazel Rochman

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens; 1st edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599902001
• ISBN-13: 978-1599902005
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #455,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Bottle in the Gaza Sea September 22, 2008

By Jewish Book World Magazine

Format:Hardcover

Valerie Zenatti's moving novel, A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, translated by Adriana Hunter, depicts the unlikely correspondence and growing connection between Tal, a 16 year old Israeli girl and Naim, a twenty year old Palestinian young man. The story begins following a bombing in Tal's neighborhood. A young woman is killed on the eve of her wedding. Tal is shaken and moved to write down her thoughts. She has the overwhelming urge to share her ideas with a Palestinian. She asks her brother, Eyton, to throw the letter, stuffed into a bottle, into the Gaza Sea. Naim, or Gazaman, as he refers to himself, finds her letter and responds with an email.
Their letters are sincere, defensive, and concerned. Both Tal and Naim yearn to be heard; they want recognition. Through their letters as well as sections of authentic narrative and interior monologue, the reader feels their growing friendship and love. Although their points of view are opposite, they do indeed have much in common. In every word, the yearning for peace and understanding glow. The end result: a stunning and frank conversation. This novel should serve as a discussion point for young people who are tired of politics as usual. Like the film, Broken Promises, the story invokes utter despair as well as hope that young people hold the promise of peace. As Tal tells Naim, "I feel as if we're caught in a labyrinth and no one can find the way out, everyone's losing their temper and smashing everything in their efforts to get out into the fresh air." And as Naim tells Tal, "I mostly have dreams." The cover reads, "Love is like War...Easy to begin but hard to stop." But A Bottle in the Gaza Sea is about more than love. It is also about hope and fear, and will stay with the reader for a long time. Ages 12 and up. Reviewed by Sara Aronson

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars poweful read, brings flesh and bone to conflict July 1, 2008

By Bethany L. Canfield

Format:Hardcover

Far removed from the conflict in the Middle East it is easy to live day by day not thinking of the dangerous situation that mothers, fathers, children and grandparents live through daily in many places on the other side of the ocean. It is easy to forget the freedoms women don't have, the childless babies and the violence. However in my drive to feel more, to know more and keep all peoples close to me. I believe education defies prejudice and so I read on.

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea is a book of two hopefuls in a sea of killing, prejudice, and a tradition of violence between the Palestinians and the jews, from Jerusalem and the Gaza strip. Tal, a teen from Jerusalem wills to find peace, and longs for a glint of hope, of life from the other side. She puts a letter in a bottle and asks her brother, who is a soldier to put it in the Gaza Sea. Naim, is what comes of it, a bright Palestinian teen topped off with sarcasm. They email back and forth. Facades are broken down, lies made to truths, and through their friendship hope comes to them and those around them.

I genuinely enjoyed reading A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, Zenatti did an excellent job with the writing and the content of the book. The characters are fully believable, lovable and unforgettable. I hesitate to mention that this is designed as a young adult read, and that because of that you would steer clear, feeling that maturity and wisdom would most likely be lacking. I can promise you that those assumptions are wrong. The young Tal and her Gaza friend, Naim are young in age, but it is easy to be captivated by them, as they both portray the losses of their peoples at the hands of each others people. I was involved, interested and Zenatti spoke to me. I highly recommend this book, it gives all the emotion without the descriptions of blood and guts ( but does not hide that that is everywhere). A Bottle in the Gaza Sea is a realistic hope for peace, a dream of a future life of freedom, no matter how many generations the war has already gone on for.

Quotes:

The two of us don't have much luck: we were born in the twentieth century- the bloodiest century in history, as Rosebush reminded us yet again yesterday.: Two world wars, the Soviet empire dominating part of the world +conflicts pretty much all over the place with increasingly sophisticated weapons= hundreds of millions of deaths. 'It's just maths,' he added with an almost sadistic smile (p. 34).

'We choose none of the things that determine out lives: not the way we look or where we're born or our parents. None of them. We just have to cope with all the things we haven't chosen and which make us who we are.' My father told me that last year, when I was having trouble with just being me (p. 132).

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Humanizing the conflict email style May 5, 2008

By KDB English Teacher --

Format:Hardcover

This very quick read tells the story of Tal and Naim, two people who should be enemies since one is Palestinian and the other Israeli with the Gaza wall separating their lives and their experiences. One day, after a horrific terrorist attack on a nearby cafe, Tal decides that the only way she can deal with the pain is to reach out to someone on the other side. She needs to know that they are not all heartless. As such, Tal puts a message in a champagne bottle and enlists her brother (who is in the Israeli guard) to drop the bottle somewhere on the other side of the wall, preferably in the Gaza Sea.

What ensues as a result of this action is the crux of this very short and enjoyable read. Naim, who first identifies himself only as Gazaman, is the recipient of this letter. He is able to read Hebrew and emails back to Tal. Over the course of a few months, Tal and Naim get to know each other and what life is like on the other side. Eventually they even manage an IM conversation. Then, when Tal is out filming scenes of every day life, she happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, filming a bus as it comes to a stop and then explodes. Another terrorist attack but this time, Tal is an eyewitness.

Can the friendship she has formed with this stranger help her through the trauma? Will she be able to find a way to be whole once more? All of these questions are answered, leaving the reader hoping that the lives of Tal and Naim will meet again in a better place and time, as hinted at by the end of the story.

I definitely recommend this book to young adults or adults alike who hope for peace just as much as the young protagonist. It's also a great way to learn some history in a easy format. The message of hope is uplifting.