BY RANDA JARAR
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Nidali, the rebellious daughter of an Egyptian-Greek mother and a Palestinian father, narrates the story of her childhood in Kuwait, her teenage years in Egypt (to where she and her family fled the 1990 Iraqi invasion), and her family's last flight to Texas. Nidali mixes humor with a sharp, loving portrait of an eccentric middle-class family, and this perspective keeps her buoyant through the hardships she encounters: the humiliation of going through a checkpoint on a visit to her father's home in the West Bank; the fights with her father, who wants her to become a famous professor and stay away from boys; the end of her childhood as Iraq invades Kuwait on her thirteenth birthday; and the scare she gives her family when she runs away from home.
Funny, charming, and heartbreaking, A Map of Home is the kind of book Tristram Shandy or Huck Finn would have narrated had they been born Egyptian-Palestinian and female in the 1970s.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nidali, the rebellious daughter of an Egyptian-Greek mother and a Palestinian father, narrates the story of her childhood in Kuwait, her teenage years in Egypt (to where she and her family fled the 1990 Iraqi invasion), and her family's last flight to Texas. Nidali mixes humor with a sharp, loving portrait of an eccentric middle-class family, and this perspective keeps her buoyant through the hardships she encounters: the humiliation of going through a checkpoint on a visit to her father's home in the West Bank; the fights with her father, who wants her to become a famous professor and stay away from boys; the end of her childhood as Iraq invades Kuwait on her thirteenth birthday; and the scare she gives her family when she runs away from home.
Funny, charming, and heartbreaking, A Map of Home is the kind of book Tristram Shandy or Huck Finn would have narrated had they been born Egyptian-Palestinian and female in the 1970s.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Randa Jarrar was born in Chicago in 1978. She grew up in Kuwait and Egypt, and moved back to the U.S. at thirteen. She is a writer and translator whose honors include the Million Writers Award, the Avery Hopwood and Jule Hopwood Award and the Geoffrey James Gosling Prize. Her fiction has appeared in Ploughshares as well as in numerous journals and anthologies. Her translations from the Arabic have appeared in Words Without Borders: The World Through the Eyes of Writers; recently, she translated Hassan Daoud's novel, The Year of the Revolutionary New Bread-Making Machine. She currently lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A Map of Home is her first novel. Visit Randa online at rockslinga.blogspot.com.
THE GIVEAWAY
THANKS TO GABRIELLE AT THE
PENGUIN GROUP, I HAVE TWO
COPIES OF THIS AMAZING BOOK
TO GIVE AWAY
RULES:
--U. S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL IN YOUR COMMENT
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY
HOW TO ENTER:
6 PM, EST, SEPTEMBER 28
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!
PENGUIN GROUP, I HAVE TWO
COPIES OF THIS AMAZING BOOK
TO GIVE AWAY
RULES:
--U. S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL IN YOUR COMMENT
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY
HOW TO ENTER:
+1 ENTRY: COMMENT IF YOU ALREADY ARE A LOYAL FOLLOWER OF ANY KIND AND WHERE OR IF YOU BECOME ONE TODAY
+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE WITH THE LINK
+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE WITH THE LINK
+1 MORE ENTRY: WATCH FOR MY REVIEW IN THE COMING DAYS AND THEN COME BACK HERE TO COMMENT ON IT
ALL ENTRIES ARE DUE BY6 PM, EST, SEPTEMBER 28
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!
43 comments:
I am a loyal follower with google connect.
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I am a follower on Google Friend Connect
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+1 ENTRY: I'm an old follower my love!
Thanks!
-Eleni
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I all ready follow. :)
misusedinnocence@aol.com
a loyal follower indeed
wheresmyrain(at)yahoo(dot)com
This books is right up my ally, as you may remember, my goal this year is reading foreign authors or books based in foreign countries, so this one would be great!!
Rebecca dot cox at charter dot net
http://twitter.com/ccqdesigns/status/4006649976
Here's a tweet!
rebecca dot cox at charter dot net
I am a long time follower on Google reader.
rebecca dot cox at charter dot net
+ already a follower via Google friend connect/reader.
~Misty (mbradenwf@gmail.com)
I am a loyal follow with Google Friend Connect on your left side bar!
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I am a subscriber with google reader.
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I'm a follower through google friend connect!
sarahosborne12(at)gmail(dot)com
I blogged here:
http://myfavoritegiveaways.blogspot.com/2009/09/book-map-of-home.html
sarahosborne12(at)gmail(dot)com
I'm a loyal follower with Google Connect!
libneas[at]aol[dot]com
I'm a loyal follower through google reader. :D
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I follow on google reader
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I am a follower and subscribe through google reader.
bstilwell12 at comcast dot net
I tweeted about this giveaway:
http://twitter.com/pine1211/status/4032622436
bstilwell12 at comcast dot net
I read the guest author blog and read her website and learned that the author is Egyptian, Greek and Palastinian and moved to Texas with her 2 year old.
rebecca dot cox at charter dot net
I think her comments in her longer interview at the website are very thought provoking. Especially the ones about how we perceive what Arab/Arab Americans should be writing about. She mentions to hajib vs. rags to riches stories and the Arabian night ones, when really, a coming of age novel for an Arab girl will echo very similar themes as an American girl.
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com
I Twittered
http://twitter.com/Copperllama/status/4041471516
copperllama at yahoo dot com
Bonus Entry:
She grew up in Kuwait and her mother was Egyptian and Greek, and her father was Palestinian.
Thanks
libneas[at]aol[dot]com
Thanks for this great book giveaway. I am intrigued with this story. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
The book The Making of Iraq is on her desk for research purposes as well as a bar of soap from Nablus. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
A wrapped cube of Nablus soap, all the way from Palestine.
Thanks Again
libneas[at]aol[dot]com
That is one crammed desk! She said she has a tiny toy sewing machine. I wonder how that helped with the book :)
sarahosborne12(at)gmail(dot)com
Bonus Entry:
She had to create her own Arab-American character because there aren't any she can personally relate to.
sarahosborne12(at)gmail(dot)com
I'm a follower and would love to read this!
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
I subscribe via email.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
Bonus entry-
Two different Mythology encyclopedias, and a scholarly book on Myths are parked on her desk.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
I am already a follower.
Valorie
morbidromantic@gmail.com
I am a loyal follower through google connect. This sounds like a great read! Thanks! jacquecurl1(at)gmail.com
I follow
chocolateandcroissants at yahoo dot com
tweeted cococroissantsGiveaway for A Map of Home http://bit.ly/3u5AC5
chocolateandcroissants at yahoo dot com
You found this to be an easy read and it had you laughing out loud at her situation.
chocolateandcroissants at yahoo dot com
I follow on google reader!
thanks
dcf_beth at verizon dot net
I am a new follower, I just started tonight! I follow via gfc and reader. I am really excited to have found this blog!!! Thanks for the chance!
I am an extremely LOYAL follower on Google Friend Connect!! I love your blog!!
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
Loyal follower
kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com
Posted under current giveaways sidebar http://metroreader.blogspot.com/
+1 I'm a longtime and loyal follower via Google Friend Connect. :D
~Briana
thebookpixie[at]yahoo[dot]com
I would just love to win this book!
+1 I'm a loyal follower :D
Marie
utah91960(at)yahoo(dot)com
+1 Tweeted: http://twitter.com/utah91960/status/4428200757
Marie
utah91960(at)yahoo(dot)com
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