Plot Summary

Ida dreads nothing more than having to present her passion project in front of the entire school, mostly because she hasn’t even started it yet. Ida doesn’t know what she’s passionate about, and she’s too stressed out by everyone at the school calling her a “terrorist” and staring at her whenever anyone mentions the Middle East to find out what she cares about. If things couldn’t get worse for her, she eats an olive from a jar sent by her aunt from Palestine and suddenly finds herself on the other side of the world from her Massachusetts home, living in a small town outside of Jerusalem. With no idea of how she got there, let alone how she could get back, Ida has to figure out her new life in a place she’s never lived before, and yet everything there seems very familiar. All the while the deadline on her passion project is ever-ticking…

Critical Evaluation

It is clear in the writing that what most interests Nora Lester Murad is Palestine, and that she wants her readers to see its beauty and its struggles. While in Oxbridge, Massachusetts, Ida’s life seems trivial with simplistic problems, and the writing reflects that. Ida is a middle schooler who faces intense racism every day to the point that she has to move schools, and yet her greatest concern is that she cannot start her passion project for school, and she dreads presenting it. It makes her seem childish and doesn’t give much drive to the plot itself. Once she eats her first magic olive and arrives in Palestine, Ida and the writing open up. 

Waking up in Busala, Ida soaks in her environment that is so carefully laid out by Murad. Murad describes the village and the people that fill it with love and care, giving each character a memorable trait to endear the reader: from a boy in town that Ida’s older sister has a clear crush on, his three friends all named Muhammad, and his little brother covered in cheese-puff dust to a girl who just got out of jail after writing “Free Palestine” on the wall. Through Ida’s eyes, Busala is a town of community, love, loss, fear, anger, and more. Suddenly the story and characters contain depth and layers and stakes that entice the reader to continue. The town is also in real danger. The Israeli army is threatening to bulldoze their homes to make room for a parking lot and other structures. By this point, the stakes of the story have increased drastically. 

***spoiler warning for the rest of this section***

This story shows love and care for Palestine and its people, but it also roots itself in reality. There is a happy ending, but it is not overdone. The village survives a siege by the army, but businesses are destroyed and Ida’s friend’s home is destroyed. They lived, but they also lost. Back in her life in the United States, Ida successfully gives her presentation about Palestine and the power and love that her people have, but she doesn't win the competition. She’s able to sway the opinion of one classmate, but not the powers in her school. The teacher congratulated her coldly, only commenting on the fact that she didn’t use images in her presentation. It’s clear that Ida succeeded, but she didn’t solve the entire problem. This book is optimistic, but not unrealistic. It’s enough to explain what is happening without completely destroying the reader about the continued circumstances that Palestinians continue to live under. Even though it was difficult to get past the first few chapters because of how lifeless they were, it is a worthwhile book to read, particularly for those who want to understand a Palestinian side of the story. 

Creative Use for a Library Program

Food is very important to any culture, and it plays a large role in Ida’s life. For a program, I’d love to have a Palestinian come in and lead a workshop for teens to learn how to make a Palestinian food or dish. Since olives play a huge role in the story, it would be fun to learn how to pickle or prepare them in a Palestinian way. I’m not sure how to get ahold of raw olives, but I’m sure, particularly living in California, that there is a way. If not, there are plenty of other dishes mentioned in the book, and others that Palestine is famous for, that could be used for the program. It would be great to share this culture in a less contentious way. I’m sure hosting an event like this would still come with backlash and challenges, but I would still want to implement it so long as the Palestinian people who are helping us are not in danger while doing so.

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation

To say that a book about Palestine that paints the country and its people in a positive light would be controversial is an understatement. Since the events of October 7, 2023, any support of Palestine has been seen as antisemitic, pro-terrorist, and generally hateful. It’s controversial enough that Nora Lester Murad along with Alice Rothchild (n.d.) created a toolkit to help librarians and teachers defend against claims of antisemitism for including Palestinian voices in their classes, schools, and libraries. What is important, however, is to remember that it is our duty as librarians to represent different sides of controversial topics in order to show unbiased representation (ALA, 2019). This includes sharing Palestinian stories like Ida in the Middle. 

The novel itself shows no signs of being antisemitic. As a Jewish woman, living in the West Bank, Murad is very aware of not portraying racist or antisemitic ideals in her writing. The only criticisms present are towards the nation-state of Israel and the actions that they have taken, not towards individuals based on stereotypes or generalizations. Critiquing a state is not the same as being prejudiced against a people. In the book, Ida’s aunt says it best,

“‘There are all kinds of Israelis. just like there are all kinds of Palestinians. Some of them hate us, some of them don’t like us but think we should be treated fairly. There are even Israeli Jews who fight alongside us for our rights.’” (p. 168) 

Ida in the Middle instead offers a great opportunity to build empathy for a group of people and to become more informed about a global issue that affects all people. 

Reason for Inclusion

I wanted to read this novel because I’ve been wanting to learn more about Palestinians and the history of their country. While this novel is not written by a Palestinian woman, it is written by someone who has lived within their borders, raised children on the West Bank, and experienced the actions of the Israeli army and government; Nora Lester Murad has a perspective closely tied to their experiences. I’ll be honest in saying that this book made me cry. It was at a specific moment when Ida’s grandfather told her what his village used to be like, how proud he was to be a farmer, and how much he loved the land and his people. It was such a quiet scene, yet it had a profound effect on me. This is why I’d want to include it in my library. This is a powerful book that builds towards a better understanding of what is happening and has been happening in Palestine while also building empathy for immigrants in the United States.