They Called Me a Lioness (audiobook) by Ahed Tamimi & Dena Takruri
Bibliographic Information
Title: They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight for Freedom
Authors: Ahed Tamimi & Dena Takruri
Audiobook read by: Dena Takruri
Publisher: One World
Copyright Date: 2022
ISBN: 9780593134597
Page Count: 288
Genre/Format
Biography, Memoir/ Audiobook
Awards or Honors
Reading Level/Interest Level
Not given by publisher or major reviews. It isn’t categorized as young adult, but it is a coming of age memoir that reaches a precipice when the author is placed in prison at the age of 16 and then spends her 17th birthday there.
Plot Summary
This memoir details Ahed Tamimi’s life from early childhood through young adulthood. She tells the story of living during Israeli occupation through a recounting of her vivid memories. She grew up protesting the occupation which began for her when an illegal Israeli settlement took control of a natural spring, the historic single water source for her village. Ahed is arrested at the age of 16 for slapping an Israeli soldier in her front yard in defense of her younger cousin. The act was captured on camera and shared on social media, and she believes the Israeli military needed to make a statement with her arrest. Brief, but useful information is shared about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ahed shares her experience of eight months in the prison, and what life was like as an International symbol of resistance for Palestine after she was released.
Author Background
Ahed Tamimi is a Palestinian activist and author. She grew up in a small village, Nabi Selah, in the West Bank, that is occupied by the Israeli military. She continues to fight for her country’s freedom and was imprisoned again in 2023, but has since been released (Patil, 2023).
Dena Takruri is a Palestinian- American journalist. She is a senior presenter at AJ+ where she hosts a docuseries focusing on conflict, injustices, and turmoil affecting our world (Takruri, n.d.).
Critical Evaluation
This contemporary book is an important piece of work to help Westerners understand the Israeli occupation from a Palestinian perspective. Additionally, many young people who are fighting for their freedom all over the world may be able to see themselves in the young and brave heroine. The book represents an authentic voice for Palestinian children and young adults who currently live under Israeli occupation. The memoir gives some background information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in ways that may be easier to understand than many history books.
““I cannot even begin to convey the clarity, the intensity, the power, the photographic storytelling of They Called Me a Lioness. Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri lay bare seemingly every terrifying aspect of Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians, and the relentless freedom fight of Palestinians and their Israeli allies. Read and bear witness.””
Creative Use for a Library Program
Host a book discussion allowing students to think critically about what they think they might do iif they were in Ahed’s place, living under occupation and constant threat.
Speed-Round Talk
Ahed Tamimi only knows what it’s like to live under Israeli occupation. She recounts memories as a child and a young adult when she is eventually arrested and placed in an Israeli prison. She details what life in an Israeli military prison is like as a teenage girl.
Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation
Ahed unapologetically protests for her country’s freedom. She witnesses her family members and friends being injured and killed. There is violence and death. However, this book is needed to add an important piece of context to the daily existence of life for many Palestinians living under occupation, and while violent, it is current, and true.
Reason for Inclusion
I wanted to include something that helps young people understand and think critically about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This personal memoir is better poised to do that than many dry news articles.
References
Patil, A. (2023, November 27). A Palestinian activist, Ahed Tamimi, faces indefinite detention. The New York Times. Retrieved October 16, 2024 from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/27/world/middleeast/ahed-tamimi-detained-israel.html
Takruri, D. (n.d.) Dena Takruri [Linkedin profile]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/denatakruri/
Penguin Random House. (n.d.) They Called Me A Lioness. Retrieved October 18, 2024 from https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634628/they-called-me-a-lioness-by-ahed-tamimi-and-dena-takruri/