Reviews

Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine by Ibtisam Barakat

mindfullibrarian's review against another edition

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5.0

My review of this must-read title is up at: http://theloudlibrarylady.com/2017/05/17/balcony-on-the-moon-ya-title-feature

masucolmusings's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

an enjoyable read. it felt like reading a kid’s diary (not in a bad way). as a fledging creative, ibtisam coming of age into her craft and as a young woman living under occupation was a refreshing, insightful look. throughly enjoyed and will continue looking out for more of her work!

erinsbookshelves's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

5.0

annebennett1957's review against another edition

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4.0

Very well-written with a nice use of Arabic words, customs, and holidays worked in to the story to make it feel educational as well. I know more are the plight of the Palestinian person and about the culture from this book , yet I didn't feel clobbered over the head with the information.

kinleyanne's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.75

Incredible story of a young creative mind growing in a course unforgiving environment.

likethebabyfood's review against another edition

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4.0

It was pretty good. It is good for someone to see how other people live. It's just really good. I'm bad at reviewing. Read it, and you will learn how some things you take for granted are. A good book for feminists too, a woman defying her husband so she can get an education.

foreveryoungadult's review against another edition

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Graded By: Brian
Cover Story: Purple Haze
Drinking Buddy: Fisehatak!
Testosterone Estrogen Level: Mid Eastern
Talky Talk: The Diary of a Young Girl
Bonus Factor: Palestine
Bromance Status: Buds

Read the full book report here.

gwend's review against another edition

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4.0

I liked Balcony on the Moon as much as or more than her first memoir, Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood. As Ibtisam grows up, her spunky, engaged with life personality emerges: she sneaks away from home during the day to go work at a tissue paper factory, and then quits due to the poor treatment of workers, which she tries to stand up for. She endears herself to all her fellow workers, and her parents forgive her as well. They move often, so she describes the wide variety of neighborhoods and schools she is in. The secondary awesome woman in this story is Ibtisam's mother, who gets married at 15 (!), has 7 kids in quick succession in unstable conditions, and then decides to go back to school to get her high school diploma. Her husband bends to her strong will, and Ibtisam helps her study. Informative, funny at times, well-written: a great memoir!

marijapetrovic's review against another edition

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4.0

Inspiring!

aeandrews's review

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4.0

Really interesting memoir about a topic/place I know very little about (and probably wouldn't ever have picked up if we hadn't had a damaged copy at the bookstore this weekend).
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