Three Wishes

By Deborah Ellis

Book Overview

Deborah Ellis presents the stories of children of the war-torn Middle East, based on interviews with Israeli and Palestinian children.

In a rehabilitation center for disabled children, twelve-year-old Nora says she loves the color pink and chewing gum and explains that the wheels of her wheelchair are like her legs. Eleven-year-old Mohammad describes how his house was demolished by soldiers. And we meet twelve-year-old Salam, whose older sister walked into a store in Jerusalem and blew herself up, killing herself and two people, and injuring twenty others. All these children live both ordinary and extraordinary lives. They argue with their siblings. They dream about their wishes for the future. They have also seen their homes destroyed, their families killed, and they live in the midst of constant upheaval and violence.

This simple and telling book allows children everywhere to see those caught in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as children just like themselves, but who are living far more difficult, dangerous lives.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.6

Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3

Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6

Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0888996454
• ISBN13: 9780888996459
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Groundwood Books
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 11 years and up
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 6

Customer Reviews

FEAR! Fear of soldiers, fear of bombs, fear of guns, fear of dying, but most of all, there is fear o

"I know there is a war going on, but I don't know why.... I hear about bombs on the television, about bombs going off in shops and on buses and it makes me afraid." FEAR! Fear of soldiers, fear of bombs, fear of guns, fear of dying, but most of all, there is fear of each other. Author Deborah Ellis visits this war torn region to see how children live their everyday life in the middle of a terrifying war. Read this book to find out how peoples' choices of war are affecting Palestinian and Israeli children's lives.