Institute for Curriculum Services

Kaplan, Kathy Walden
Eerdman's Books for Young Readers: 2005. 131pp
$7.50. ISBN: 0802852742
Recommended for ages 9-12

Mayim is a nine year-old girl living with her mother, a university professor, in a diverse Haifa neighborhood in 1973. She befriends a local dog, which she calls Knotty, and sets about interrogating her neighbors about where the dog came from. She has a comfortable family life, although she is haunted by the memory of her father, who was killed in the Six Day War, and misses her grandfather, who lives in Jerusalem. When Egypt and Syria attack Israel, launching the Yom Kippur War, Mayim is left to care for Knotty all on her own. The dog soon comes to unite the neighborhood of Jews and Arabs, young people and old, who rally around the mysterious animal and its precocious, inquisitive caregiver, Mayim.

This is a sweet, sad, and hopeful story about how a young child responds to the wrenching experience of war with tolerance, kindness, and determination. This story illustrates a community's determination to go on with their lives despite danger and violence. The book reveals their compassion for others, whether it be traveling soldiers, the local grocer, or a scraggly dog named Knotty.

In this book, women, in particular, capture Mayim's admiration as she explores the society of her upbringing. Mayim and her mother offer a ride to two Israeli soldiers, for example, who go on to fight in the Yom Kippur War, and with whom they have a brief discussion about the female experience in the Israeli army. The story touches on the female heroism which took place during World War Two and the smuggling of Jews into the Palestine Mandate. We also learn of the traumatic events that reinforce some characters' commitment to the Jewish State.

A brief argument between Mayim and Uri reflects the vigorous debate among Israelis on matters of war and peace, Arab relations, and the future of their country. While Uri insists on Israel taking everything from the Nile to the Euphrates; Mayim wonders how many will have to die for that to happen.