As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow

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It’s now been exactly one month since I’ve finished this book and I’m still struggling to verbalize my thoughts on it. Is it enough of a review to say that I want to push this book into the hands of everyone that can read it and stand over them until they’ve finished, until they get it?

Whatever happens tomorrow, we’ll be okay. Even if…” He takes in a deep breath and presses his forehead against mine. “Know that even in death, you’re my life.” Lemon trees is everything. It’s grief and anguish, but it’s also hope and love. It’s a story about survival, about stealing these moments of joy when the world threatens to bury you. As an Arab, I was already aware of the crisis in Syria. This book still shook me to my core, to be reading about the horrors that the Syrian people have experienced. To read this book with no prior knowledge? This is exactly the kind of book that shatters our bubbles of safety and comfort when there are others suffering in the world.References to lemons are dotted throughout the book, from the scent they emit to their place in the country’s rich cultural heritage. Definitely need to reread when it comes out because apparently there are little things I missed (you wouldn't believe it, her mind !!)

Layla looks at me but there’s no annoyance in her eyes. Only compassion. “We fight while we’re still here, Salama, because this is our country. This is the land of your father, and his father before him. Your history is embedded in this soil. No country in the world will love you as yours does.” By writing in English, Katouh felt she could finally get the message out about what is happening in Syria, especially since she says many people do not really know about the atrocities taking place there. Building empathyI glue my eyes to the brown soup, listening to the hissing flames. Since not long after I moved in, Layla has been nagging me to talk to Am at the hospital. She’s heard the stories of Syrians finding safety in Germany. So have I. Some of my own patients have been able to secure passage across the Mediterranean Sea via Am. How he finds the boats I have no idea. But with money, anything is possible. As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a beautiful and aesthetic book starting from the melodicity of the title to the visual impact of that stunning cover to the love stories happening inside the book. Yes, stories. Plural. Because there isn't only a boy and a girl falling in love. But I will get to that later.

But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, when she crosses paths with Kenan, the boy she was supposed to meet on that fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all. Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are-not a war, but a revolution-and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria's freedom. Don’t focus on the darkness and sadness,” she says, and I glance up at her. She smiles warmly. “If you do, you won’t see the light even if it’s staring you in the face.” Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life. I had to write Salama’s character three times, to be able to flesh it out even more,” she says, explaining that her characters were not intended as purely tragic beings: "It wasn't fair to the people who had suffered... They are not just their suffering."Dengan penghinaan sebagai salah satu faktor utama di dalamnya, sindrom ini menjangkau ke dalam inti keberadaan seseorang. Menghancurkan kemanusia dalam tiap jiwa korbannya secara terencana dan total hingga membuat mereka hidup layaknya cangkang saja. The cold air bites through my lab coat’s worn- out material, and the harsh touch of it makes me shiver. I murmur, “Feverfew. They look like daisies. Treats fevers and arthritis. Feverfew. Feverfew. Feverfew.” salama’s story is one i will carry with me for the rest of my life. she is so incredibly brave, so selfless, so loving. she made some decisions that she came to regret deeply, but i don’t blame her for anything. she’s human, and her choices prove that. desperate situations call for desperate measures. i loved everything about salama, from her commitment to her family and faith to her determination to help the injured despite the danger it put her in.

Teens will be able to recognise innocent moments that Salama tries to hold on to and see how they live in a world where everything is okay, but for others it's not the same,” she says. It doesn’t hurt for you to think about your future. We don’t have to stop living because we might die. Anyone might die at any given moment, anywhere in the world. We’re not an exception. We just see death more regularly than they do.” This is an important book. Everyone should read it' - Elizabeth Laird, award-winning author of Welcome to Nowhere We held our heads high and planted lemon trees in acts of defiance, praying that when they came for us, it'd be a bullet to the head.' Ini mulai dari Salama yang harus melakukan amputasi pada prajurit dari Tentara Pembebasan Suriah atau Free Syrian Army, menyelamatkan anak kecil yang tangan dan kakinya sudah hampir putus, hingga menyelamatkan anak-anak dan perempuan yang terkena serangan senjata kimia. Serangan yang bahkan dalam ilmu kedokteran modern sekalipun masih belum ditemukan prosedur penyelamatannya.

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This book comes from my pain, my guilt, my love, my sorrows, my dreams, and my hopes. In short, this book comes from the raw parts of my heart. I will say the plot twist was well-written and did surprise me (though I didn’t feel enough attachment to the characters to actually… care, unfortunately), and Khawf as a character was definitely one of, if not the most, compelling part of the book as a whole. Another thing I really enjoyed was how important religion was to these characters, and how they never strayed from it even when things like a blossoming romance could’ve gotten in the way of their values. That’s something I think we’re seeing a lot less often in YA as time goes on, and it was really refreshing to read as a young person who wants to be more religious! Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She was even supposed to be meeting a boy to talk about marriage. Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors. She knows that she should be thinking about leaving, but who will help the people of her beloved country if she doesn't? With her heart so conflicted, her mind has conjured a vision to spur her to action. His name is Khawf, and he haunts her nights with hallucinations of everything she has lost. Sudah hampir lebih dari 11 tahun Suriah dalam situasi konflik bersenjata. Kini Suriah mengalami krisis kemanusian atau humanitarian crisis. Konflik bersenjata yang berkepanjangan, belum lagi banyak pihak luar yang terlibat dalam konflik ini membuat Suriah seperti medan perang yang tak berkesudahan.