Sami And The Time Of The Troubles by Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland

CONTROVERSIAL BOOK

This book is about a ten year old boy, Sami, and his family who live in Beirut, Lebanon during "the time of the troubles" (war, guns, bombings, etc.). It is revealed early on in the story that Sami's father died in a bombing at a market. The plot is very serious and contains quite a few mature themes and ideas. For example, in one scene Sami and his friend Amir play with pieces of wood that look like guns and "...pretend to shoot, we pretend to die." The family has been forced to take reguge in the basement of Sami's uncle home from all of the bombings and gunfire. The illustrations are extremely rich, expressive paintings that complement the story perfectly. I think this book would be considered controversial because it deals with the brutality of innocent casualities of modern day war. However, I enjoyed this book and would certainly use it with older grade levels like 5th or 6th graders.