Eleven Words for Love

By Randa Abdel-Fattah, Maxine Beneba Clarke (Illustrator)

A family in exile discovers love's many forms through a suitcase of memories.

4.1/5 Goodreads · 237 ratings

40 pages

$18.99Save 5%

In stock. Also at Amazon or Bookshop.

Bookroo's summary

A Palestinian family flees their homeland, carrying a suitcase filled with photo albums. Through the eyes of the eldest child, these albums reveal eleven Arabic expressions for love, from friendship to longing. As they navigate an uncertain future, these memories illuminate their bonds and the universal connections of family and friendship. Will they find solace in their new world while cherishing the past?

From the publisher

A lyrical narrative of a Palestinian family in exile explores universal bonds of family, loyalty, and friendship through the lens of eleven Arabic expressions for love. A family has fled their homeland in search of safety in another country, carrying a single suitcase. As their journey unfolds, the oldest child reflects on the special contents of that suitcase: photo albums that evoke eleven of many names for love in Arabic. From sunshine-warm friendship to the love that dissolves all tears; from the love that makes you swoon to the love that leaves you yearning for the heart’s homeland–her family has experienced it all. Illustrated in vibrant watercolor pencil and collage on textured card stock, this moving scrapbook shows a family embracing an unknown future even as they honor the past, casting immigration and the refugee experience in the light of universal human connection.

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