Customer Reviews

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea

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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.

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

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).

This story about the relationship between an Israeli girl, Tal, and a Palestinian boy, Naim, via e-mail and instant messaging, is honest but hopeful. Well-written and compelling, the tale of their relationship conveys the confusion, anger, exhaustion, and depression felt by many young people during the 2003 intifada. Tal sees what's hiding behind Naim's cynicism and sarcasm, and she and her family are definitely on the liberal side of the political spectrum, but she won't put up with his victim mentality and asks him, "...where exactly are your advocates for peace? Why are there never a hundred thousand Palestinians gathered together calling for peace with us, without hatred in their eyes? Why did the intifada break out ... when we ... were prepared to give you a state? How can you accept the fact that terrorists kill women, children, babies?" Naim protests collective punishment by the Israelis, among other perceived oppressions, but he also criticizes the Palestinians and especially resents the Islamic fundamentalists. He yearns for freedom and eventually finds a way to study in Canada. Bottle in the Gaza Sea is more nuanced, and is particularly strong in portraying a non-stereotyped Gaza, including Internet, restaurants, etc.- REVIEWED BY SUSAN BERSON - DENVER, COLORADO

I really like books written in letters (Sorcery and Cecilia, The Year of Secret Assignments, Ella Minnow Pea, etc.); epistolary novels are one of my favorite sub-genres.

This one, A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, centers on the continuous conflict between Israel and Palestine. A girl from one side writes a letter, puts it in a bottle, and throws it into the Gaza Sea after witnessing a bombing in her neighborhood. A boy from the other side ends up reading it and replying. The rest of the book is the correspondence between the two of them, with occasional journal entries by each.

What a gorgeous little book. The writing was wonderful. The emotional tension and conflicts that the author balanced between the two characters was really powerful. For me, a middle class American girl, it was an eye-opening insight into an entirely different world, one that is very much alive right now, at this same time in history. I urge you all to read it, too.

Gold Star Award Winner!

After a nearby bombing that leaves Tal Levine, a girl desperate for peace in her Israel home, shellshocked and numb, Tal is desperate to reach out to a Palestinian, hoping for proof that they are not all heartless killers. So she writes a message in a bottle and tosses it into the Gaza Sea.

When Naim finds the bottle and its message, he becomes angry. He emails Tal, and slowly the two form an understanding of each other's lives.

But when tragedy strikes again, will their relationship survive?

A BOTTLE IN THE GAZA SEA is an intense, powerful, and eye-opening experience. Zenati doesn't seem to hold back in her descriptions of the turbulence-ridden Middle East and how deep the animosity runs. But hers is also a novel of hope and understanding as two teenagers, the next generation, come together to forge an unforgettable bond.

This is a galvanizing read that will definitely make you think.

Reviewed by: The Compulsive Reader

This is a great YA book that presents two narrators with different perspectives. In this day of emails and IM text, it's not surprising that a teen girl and a young man can link up electronically. Readers get a vivid understanding of what it would be like to live in a country occupied by another political entity. Readers will understand the frustrations of growing up under conditions of war and terror. The two perspectives allow readers to understand both sides of the Israel/Palestine issues. The need for psych counseling of folks growing up in war zones was a unique addition to a YA book. Would be good to read with teens in violent inner cities to get an understanding of what happens with countries/poliltical entities that never come to compromise. Would be excellent book to link with Real Time with multiple narrators.
Real Time

I read this book in one sitting. Yes, its hard to put down. Both characters speak from the heart, and their thoughts and words reflected the humanity and longing for peace that many amongst both Semitic peoples share. I also appreciated the human angle; Naim's account of what life is like in Gaza, and Tal's account of life in Jerusalem.

My only reservation is the implied message, that both people are victims of the other side's extremists: Palestinians blowing up buses (the book starts with that) and Israeli leaders choosing to bombard and collectively punish Gaza's entire population. The implication is that both sides share the blame and that both peoples are traumatized. This blurs the distinction between oppressor and oppressed, occupier and occupied, army and guerillas, the threat of an occasional attack by a single suicide bomber and the constant bombardment by the region's most advanced airforce. Lets-all-get-along books are nice and this one will inevitably give the reader a fuzzy feeling, but it also shifts the focus away from the reality of the conflict and what needs to be done to resolve it. Israelis and Palestinians becoming pen-pals will not slow down the Zionist ongoing campaign to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people; a better story would be the true one of Israeli activists putting their lives on the line by protesting with Palestinians against the Apartheid Wall in Bil'in and other Palestinian villages, or those getting on ships to break the siege of Gaza.