The Return [Mass Market Paperback]

Sonia Levitin (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Fifteen-year-old Desta belongs to a small, isolated mountain community of Ethiopian Jews. She and her brother and sister leave their aunt and uncle and set out on the long and dangerous trip to freedom -- an airlift from the Sudan to Israel, the Promised Land. They travel barefoot, facing hunger, thirst and bandits. "Vivid and compelling...Levitin's tour de force is sensitively written." BOOKLIST. An ALA 1987 Best Book for Young Adults.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Levitin's book is a glorious, heartrending account of Operation Moses, the airlift of Ethiopian Jews from the Sudan into Israel, as seen through the eyes of Desta, 12. Desta's family belongs to a small community of Jews in dire poverty, isolated in the mountains and terrorized by Ethiopia's communist regime. A dream foretells the arrival of other Jews promising freedom in Israel; subsequently Desta's older brother, along with her betrothed, Dan, and his family, are chosen to travel to the Sudan, where they will be flown to Israel. The journey becomes a nightmare for them all. This book will remind readers that there are thousands of children in the world who spend each day in jeopardy. The story ends with Desta and Almaz healing in Jerusalem, but there is a last note that the airlift was stopped, and that many Jews remain trapped in Ethiopia. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up Between November, 1984, and January, 1985, a secret airlift dubbed ``Operation Moses'' flew hundreds of refugee Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Levitin's novel tells of how increased religious persecution, forced conscription, and an unwanted arranged marriage drove two young people and their nine-year-old sister to undertake the hazardous journey from their Ethiopian village to an overcrowded refugee camp in Sudan for a chance at a new life in Israel. It is an old-fashioned survival story narrated by a contemporary heroine who is torn between her love for her country and family and the knowledge that home means fear, deprivation, and maybe an early death for her older brother. Tragedy and triumph are interwoven in this rather formally told and sometimes brutally realistic tale that focuses on a people and a culture that is rapidly disappearing. Unfamiliar Amharic and Hebrew terms are made clear in context. A one-page bibliography of adult material is provided for motivated readers. The adventure of the exodus is totally absorbing, and the emotional impact is strong. Amy Kellman, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett (July 12, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449702804
• ISBN-13: 978-0449702802
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.6 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #647,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My life is mainly devoted to friends and family, my writing and my home. I enjoy hiking in the mountains, especially with my dogs. You can see their pics on my web page, and also pics of my family andfriends. I like to traveling to interesting places. I've been to Europe, parts of Asia, Hawaii, and many beautiful places in the U.S. My most exciting new project is working with a great team on creating a musical based on my novel The Return. We plan the premier in fall, 2006, and now we're casting and soon going into rehearsal.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Return. Amanda Matson MSJA August 2, 2002, August 2, 2002

By 

Amanda (Allston MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Return (Mass Market Paperback)

The Return by Sonia Levitin was a very good book. It was a little bit hard to get into, but if you continued to read then you would find that it got more interesting. It is about a girl named Desta who lives in a small village on top of a mountain in Ethiopia. She is a Jew, and in her country that is not a good thing because they are often blamed for things, beaten, or killed. She lives with her Aunt and Uncle (because her parents are dead) her older brother Joas, and her younger sister Almaz.

Desta and her family live a quiet life, until one day when word of a dream that Weizero Channa (an old wise woman from another village) travels to their village. In her dream a "ram" leads his "sheep" to Jerusalem. They believe it, but would not go because of all the dangers they would face traveling because they are Jews. Joas, however, does want to leave and starts saving his money so that he can make the trip. When he talks to Desta of the trip she says there is no real reason why they should go and does not want to have anything to do with it.

Her sign that they should indeed leave soon comes. There is word from another village that men are coming to take the boys and force them to join the army. It is decided that they have to go now to save themselves from bad things or even death. With a group from another village (Kess, Weizero Channa, Dan, who is supposed to marry Desta, and a few others) they start on their hard journey to their freedom, in Jerusalem.

To make it through this journey, they need all the strength and faith they have to make it through all of the hardships. The story is very inspirational. I liked it so much I could not put it down. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read or has much faith in his or her religion because this story can teach you how your faith can help you through the worst of times.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'The Return' an excellent book!, September 5, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Return (Mass Market Paperback)

Over the summer, I was required to read 'The Return' for school. I am not at all a person who really likes to read. I did not want to read this book at first, but once I picked it up, I could not put it down.

This book was about a young girl Desta, who was forced to make changes that would effect her for the rest of her life. She was hated by many people because of her religion which led to one of the biggest decisions of her life, should she stay or should she leave.

That decision changed her life forever, in good ways and in bad. Throughout the entire story there was action and suspense which led to some of the major themes in this story. Three of the major themes were bravery, love, and faith. The book was based on Desta's faith in her religion, her love for her family, and her bravery which helped her through the hardest parts of her journey.

I would definitely recommend this book to anybody. I enjoyed reading it very much because I admired Desta. I admired how she was so brave and daring when she had to be, I admired how she would do anything for her family, and I admired her determination to be free.

I think not only teenagers, but adults as well, would enjoy reading this book very much. It is an excellent book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Return: A review by a student at the Mount, September 4, 2000

By 

Becky Gouthro (Dorchester, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Return (Mass Market Paperback)

The Return, overall, was a great book. It was full of suspense and at some points it even maid you feel a little emotional about certain topics that they talked about in the book. At many different times in the book it was also full of drama and tragedy. Most of all this was a very educational book about how people were treated because of their religion. When you read a book like this, it makes you feel glad that you live in a country where you can walk home from places and not be yelled at for the religion that you practice or the ways in which you practice it. In the beginning of the book I found it really easy to get sidetracked with something else because in the beginning of the book. The beginning of the book wasn't as eventful as most of the other chapters after that. For the most part, the beginning of the book was to me, pretty much the explaining period of the book. The beginning showed you how they had to live up high in the mountain because if they lived anywhere else they would be made fun of for the religion in which they practice. The book is about a young girl named, Desta. Desta lives with her Aunt Kibret and Uncle Tekle up in the mountains in Ethiopia, along with her younger sister, older brother and the others that lived in the village. Up in the mountains they hid in fear of being killed for the religion that they practice. Many people have tried to escape to start a new life in the promised land, Israel, but they were caught. Desta used to attend school with her best friend, but they stopped attending school because they were called names that made them feel uncomfortable. So she lives with her Aunt and Uncle and works up in the mountains and kept her younger sister safe. One day, Dan, the grandson of Weizero Channa, came to bring the news that his grandmother had a dream that visitors are coming. Desta doesn't really care for Dan in the way of marriage, but ever since she was little they made it so that Desta must marry Dan and that's why he always visits the village up there so that he can see Desta. As time passed, Weizero Channa's dream came true. Many Jews came as visitors to Ethiopia from New York. Many of the people of the village asked many questions because they believed that they were the only people that practiced that religion. The visitors told the people of the village many stories of how they are free where they come from and about many other things. After the visitors left, Desta's older brother, Joas had an idea to leave Ethiopia and take Desta and Almaz with him to the promised land of Israel. Desta told Joas that she didn't really want to go because she was afraid that they would get caught and therefor be killed. After awhile, though Desta decided to take Almaz and go with Joas on the long journey to the Promised Land. Late one night Desta went out back to talk to Kess Haim and Dan to make plans about leaving the lands of Ethiopia. Desta never realized how much she cared for Dan until he risked a lot to help get them out of Ethiopia with out anyone seeing them. They took off on the long, dangerous journey which was filled with them being hungry and thirsty most of the time. Kess Haim and others led the way to the Promised land and everyday Joas, Desta, and Almaz tried to catch up to them so they could find the place together. On the way to the Promised Land they faced many rough tasks including death. What I mean by this is that Joas the older brother was killed. He was shot. Desta and Almaz were both shocked and they hid and didn't move like Joas told them to because whoever shot Joas would come after Desta and Almaz also. With Joas being gone they continued their journey to the Promised Land. After a long and treacherous journey they made it to the Promised land and started a new life together in the Promised Land of Israel. There they can live without being mad fun of because of their religion because where they are they are with people of their kind, the Jews. I thought that The Return by Sonia Levitin was a great book. It made me look at what happens to people of a different religion from a whole different angle. I have some family members who converted to the Jewish religion and this book really helped me to understand the history of what it was like for people of that religion to grow up and have to hide their real beliefs of what they believe in.