What This Book Is About
In 1967, a young Palestinian man named Bashir Khairi knocked on the door of a house in al-Ramla (Ramla), in Israel. The house had been his family's home until 1948, when they fled it during the war that created the state of Israel. It was now the home of Dalia Eshkenazi Landau, a Bulgarian-born Israeli Jewish woman whose family had been settled into it. Standing in that doorway, the two began a conversation that would last for decades: about justice, about home, about whether two peoples who both claim one land can ever find peace.
At the centre of the story is the lemon tree Bashir's father planted in the garden before the family left. Sandy Tolan traces the two families through decades of conflict, showing how a friendship between these two people both reaches past the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and is shaped by it. The young readers' edition makes this complex history accessible without simplifying it, presenting both perspectives with equal empathy and allowing readers to draw their own conclusions. It is one of the fairest, most humane books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ever written.
Available at Popular bookstores, Kinokuniya, and the Singapore National Library.
Why We Recommend This Book
The Lemon Tree tackles one of the world's most contentious conflicts with extraordinary evenhandedness—presenting both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives without taking sides. For UWC, which brings together students from across the Middle East and around the world, this kind of balanced, empathetic approach to contested history is not just valuable but essential.
The book teaches students that understanding a conflict means holding two truths simultaneously—that both peoples have legitimate claims, legitimate suffering, and legitimate dreams. This is exactly the kind of nuanced thinking that UWC's peace education curriculum aims to develop.
Reading Level Guide
Quite challenging at B1. Recommended to build up through B2 books first.
Ideal difficulty for strong B2 and C1 readers. Stretches vocabulary and critical thinking.
Well-matched for advanced C1. Rich language and complex themes provide genuine challenge.
Other UWC Recommended Books for This Grade
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