Return by Sonia Levitin, Atheneum, Atheneum
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(Mass Market Paperback - Reissue)
- Pub. Date: July 1988
- 181pp
- Sales Rank: 420,543
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Product Details
- ISBN-13: 9780449702802
- ISBN: 0449702804
- Edition Description: Reissue
Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Desta belongs to a small, isolated mountain community of Ethiopian Jews. She and her brother and sister leave their aunt and uncle and set out on the long and dangerous trip to freedom -- an airlift from the Sudan to Israel, the Promised Land. They travel barefoot, facing hunger, thirst and bandits. "Vivid and compelling...Levitin's tour de force is sensitively written." BOOKLIST. An ALA 1987 Best Book for Young Adults.
Annotation
Desta and the other members of her Falasha family, Jews suffering from discrimination in Ethiopia, finally flee the country and attempt the dangerous journey to Israel.
Publishers Weekly
Levitin's book is a glorious, heartrending account of Operation Moses, the airlift of Ethiopian Jews from the Sudan into Israel, as seen through the eyes of Desta, 12. Desta's family belongs to a small community of Jews in dire poverty, isolated in the mountains and terrorized by Ethiopia's communist regime. A dream foretells the arrival of other Jews promising freedom in Israel; subsequently Desta's older brother, along with her betrothed, Dan, and his family, are chosen to travel to the Sudan, where they will be flown to Israel. The journey becomes a nightmare for them all. This book will remind readers that there are thousands of children in the world who spend each day in jeopardy. The story ends with Desta and Almaz healing in Jerusalem, but there is a last note that the airlift was stopped, and that many Jews remain trapped in Ethiopia. Ages 10-up. (April)
More Reviews and RecommendationsCustomer Reviews
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The Returnby Anonymous
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September 03, 2001: I gave the book 'The Return' four out of four stars because I liked the way it was written. Sonia Levitin wrote this book as though she eas actually there,experencing and seeing these things happening. The other reason why I liked this book is because Desta was a different type of girl. Shespoke her mind, and asked questions which was unheard of for a girl or woman at the time. At times throughout the story I felt bad for her. Some of them were, when her brother was killed and she had to bury him; when she wasn't sure if she would reach the Kess and his traveling group, or if she would ever reach Jerusalem at all. In the book Desta was an Ethiopian-Jew who hardly had any rights at all. She and the other Ethiopian-Jews were facing racism and prejudice where they lived. the other neighboring villages wanted nothing to do with them, because they thought they were evil. the non-Ethiopian-Jews would yell racial slurs at them, calling them budas and falashcas just to name a few. Racism is something that is pervading our world, making it dirty and we need to clean it up. I know some people have encountered some form of racism in their life, so they can relate. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about peoples' triumphs; and I would invite those of different religious backgrounds to read this book because it just hits that spot in your heart.
Returnby Anonymous
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May 16, 2001: The Return by Sonia Levintin is a compelling, moving account from the viewpoint of a Jewish African Ethiopian teenager. The government and citizens discriminate against the Jews, call them ?Falasha,? an Ethiopian word for stranger, and blame things such as droughts and floods on them. When two white Americans come to see if African Jews really exist in the world, they hear of a land called Israel. The tribe believes --- wants them to come to Israel, however, there is dispute if these foreigners speak the truth. Also, the government does not allow migration out of Ethiopia. There are soldiers and bandits who will kill and rob them. The village Rabbi finally decides to have the village leave. But a day before departure, soldiers show up at the village. The desert terrain is hostile and the soldiers and bandits merciless. The Return is unpredictable and exciting. It is definitely a book I would enjoy a second time.
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