A Hand Full of Stars [Turtleback]

Rafik Schami (Author), Rika Lesser (Translator)

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (August 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 060601702X
• ISBN-13: 978-0606017022
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,878,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn about the beauty of Damascus, April 27, 2003

By 

Selim Jochim (Innsbruck, Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hand Full of Stars (Library Binding)

Written in the form of a boy's diary, this book lets you live with it's characters for a while. It describes life in the ancient Arab city of Damascus in a very beautiful and emotional way. The main message of this book is a call for Freedom of Speech, but it is not political. I read the book for the first time in German in the late 1980's and now during the war on Iraq (2003) I came back to it and it helped me a lot to make up my own mind about the conflict. This book is not only suited for teenagers, it is also quite exciting to read for adults!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars well written and compelling, July 27, 2004

By 

A book lover - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hand Full of Stars (Library Binding)

This is extremely well-written, and does not seem to suffer for being a translated work. The characters are fully-formed, interesting people, and the story is very compelling. I also enjoyed the journal format, as it keeps the story moving well. This book paints a very vivid picture of life in modern-day Damascus.

5.0 out of 5 stars A HAND FULL OF STARS, August 26, 2005

By 

Drama/English teacher "RD" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Hand Full of Stars (Paperback)

A great introduction to a foreign culture (and I don't mean the tourist sites), I enjoyed this "journal" as it slowly and surely revealed its "author" as a growing teenager who, no doubt, will become a journalist/writer as he gets older.

Full of wisdom, humor and realism, I recommend this book for high school students; I believe that many middle school students will feel that in the first half of the book "nothing happens" and the references to a romantic relationship may make some parents nervous.

Nevertheless, to see a writer grow subtly over time is a pleasure. A HAND FULL OF STARS is relevant to students of literature in any country.