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The Shepherd's Grand-Daughter

The Shepherd's Grand-Daughter
The Shepherd’s Grand-Daughter is a children’s literature book by Anne Laurel Carter published in 2008. The novel is a fictional account of the complex situation between Jewish and Muslim in Palestine. The conflict is seen through the eye of a six years old girl (as the story begin) who sees the land of her ancestors stolen from her family. The issues behind, are too complex for Armani’s naïve understanding, but her way of reporting the situation is moving. The author was inspired by her meeting with Palestinian living the same kind of situation as she accounted for in the novel. The Shepherd’s Grand-Daughter is a story of courage and determination were family unity prone over all. It portrays a duality between the ancestral ways of living and modernization in the Palestinian conflict setting. The role of women in society is also a major theme of the novel. The author manage to adapt those mature subject for a young audience in a brilliant manners. 'The Shepherd’s Granddaughter is a well-intentioned, very earnest narrative that aims to foster international harmony by educating young readers.A portion of the book’s royalties will go to the Children in Crisis Fund portion of theInternational Board on Books for Young People'.

Plot Summary
Amani is a young Palestinian girl. Her family have a long tradition of tending sheep above the olive groves of the family homestead in the valley near Hebron. Amani is inspired by the life and stories of Seedo, her grand-father and dreams to follow his footstep. The parents of the young girl would like her to go to school in the village and learn to be a good Muslim and wife. Seedo, on the contrary, believe that Amani should learn to tend sheep and ensure that the family traditions are being pass down. Amani is learning to be a good shepherd through Seedo teaching. The old man also tells her stories about a secret meadow called Firdoos. When Armani’s home and pasture land are being threatened by the Jewish settlement the land to graze sheep are becoming scarce. As she push her way higher on the mountain she discover what seems to be the mythical pasture of Seedo’s story. There, she meets a boy named Jonathan, the son of a Jewish settler. The sight of home being in peril by the settler encourages Amani to go to school. There she can learn English, and perhaps be able to argument with the settlers. At school, she meets several girls who are faced with the same tragedy. Not only is Amani’s home being destroy but her family is disperse. Her mom, who went to Canada to visit her dying mother, find herself incapable of coming back to Palestine. Her father and uncle are imprisoned for opposing Israeli actions. With the surprising help of a rabbi, a woman lawyer and a Christian Peacemaker Teams the family is able to reunite at last and rebuilt what has been destroyed.

Main themes
The Middle East conflict between Palestinian and Israelis in a non-violence context. Conflicts between old and modern society and ways of living.

Literary Awards
Since being published in 2008, Anne Carter’s novel has been honored in height award program including the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award, the Society of School Librarians International Best Book Award and Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Honor Book.

Characters in order of appearance
Amani: Palestinian girl. Her name means “Wish” but she is nicknamed “the sheep girl”. Amani is the main protagonist of the story.

Seedo: Amani’s grand-father, the original shepherd.

Mama (Rose): Amani’s mother

Sitti: Amani’s grand-mother

Nasty: The ram

Omar: Amani’s 10 years old brother

Amma Fatima: Ammo Hani’s wife, Amani’s aunt

Wardeh: Amani’s older cosin, the oldest of a family of five girls

Ammo Hani: Seedo’s oldest son. He is made prisoner by the Settlers

Aref: Amani’s cousin, he teach Amani how to read and write in the evening so she can shepherd during the day

Nahla: Amani’s cousin who got married to a man in Al Khalil

Miss Aboushi: School teacher

The vet : Give some advice to Amani on how to care for the sheep

Romania: sheep given to Amani by the vet. She is of a rare breed

Mudher: Seedo’s only living brother who come to help during olive harvesting

Black face: Romania’s lamb

Sahem: The family dog

Musical Sitti: Amani’s grand-mother on her mother side. She lives in Toronto and is dying of cancer so Rose set off to go see her.

The Rabbi: (from Jerusalem) A friend of Baba’s. He help the family in their attempt to negotiate with the settlers who are building a highway on their land.

Raja: A friend of Wardeh from school

Jonathan “the boy”: Jewish from New York, he came to Palestine to visit his dad who is working on the settler highway

Souad, Alia, Dana and Hania: Amani’s schoolmates also affected by the construction of the highway

Islan: Amani’s uncle who lives in the village

Lawyer: Women from Tel Aviv who works for the Human Rights.

Abu Nader: Shepherd and friend of Seedo

The Author
Anne Laurel Carter was born and raised in Don Mills, Ontario. She started traveling the world when she was seventeen. Her adventures took her to Scotland and Israel where she studied Hebrew. She met her husband, an American man on Kibbutz. They moved to Los Angeles and got married. Anne Laurel, than decided to get education to work with children. She got a Master's degree in Education and taught immigrants in Toronto who shared their stories and later inspired her. The experience was an eye opener for the author-to-be. Anne Laurel Carter, also taught in remotes communities and enjoyed the experience. She was not thinking about become a writer until she became a mother. Her four young children triggered her imagination and put her on a writer path. She consider herself as an 'author and educator'.

Critique
Despite its success, the novel generated controversy among the Jewish advocacy group B’Nai B'rith who’s advocate, in a letter to the Ontario provincial ministry of education and the Toronto Board of Education, requested that the book be removed from the recommended-reading list arguing that it is 'anti-Israeli propaganda'. .  The book is not part of the Toronto School Board curriculum.

Awards and nominations
2010 Red Maple Award Nominee

2009 CLA Book of the Year Award for Children

2009 Honor Book for the Jane Addams Book Award for peace

2009 IRA Notable Book for a Global Society

2009 USBBY Outstanding International Book

Other Work by Anne Laurel Carter
Anne Laurel Carter published a series of picture books, young adult books and adult books.

Her young adult books include The Shepherd's Granddaughter(Groundwood, 2008), Last Chance Bay (Penguin, 2004), In the Clear (Orca, 2001), the trilogy Our Canadian Girl (pengouin 2002-2005-2006) and ''No Missing Parts Short. Stories About Real Princesses''(Red Deer Press, Fall/2002).