HABIBI is the story of Liyana and her family who move from St. Louis to what is now Israel.  Her father was born there when it was Palestine and her mother was born in America.  Liyana and her family must learn to adjust to the new way of life when Liyana’s father is the only one who speaks Arabic.  Liyana desperately wants to go home in the beginning, while her brother fits right in.  When Liyana meets Omer, she begins to forget her old worries.  Omer is Jewish, and Liyana worries about what will happen in this climate of strained peace and political hatred.

Nye tells this story in a very poetic, flowing way.  Liyana is a lyrical child, and the reader is brought along into her frame of mind.  The words she uses and the way she chooses to express Liyana’s feelings are so beautifully written that the reader is deeply involved with the character.  Liyana keeps a journal of “first lines” which begin the chapters in the book.  Through these thoughts that Liyana chooses to keep the reader begins to understand the way she thinks.  When Liyana makes a decision that she knows her family will not approve of, she writes down, “Being good felt like a heavy coat, so I took it off.”  Sentences like this are enough to draw the reader in and keep them involved in the story.

After a bomb goes off in a Jewish neighborhood, soldiers come to the Arab refugee camp next to the family’s apartment and shoot Liyana’s friend, a young boy.  When her father tries to intervene, he is taken to prison.  The unfairness of the situation is evident to the reader, and the feeling of hopelessness the family endures is also felt.  Liyana’s father is understandably tense when Omer is invited to dinner at Liyana’s Sitti’s (grandmother’s) house.  When the family figures out he is Jewish, there are mixed reactions.  One of her uncles is upset, but Sitti relates a story of a man she used to know who Omer reminds her of.  Omer and Liyana’s family are one tiny part of the conflict going on in the area, yet maybe they can make a difference.

Nye helps the reader to believe that every little bit of tolerance and love can help, but does not overstep into fantasy about the situation.  She acknowledges the amount of time the struggle has been going on and the depth of feeling from both sides, but still manages to deliver a message of hope.