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Literature / Mornings In Jenin

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A Palestinian story by Susan Abulhawa.Following the stories of four generations, the book tells the trials and hopes of the Abulheja family through decades of war and persecution. Beginning in 1948, the Abulhejas are forcibly removed from their village and exiled to the refugee camp, Jenin, during the Six Day War after Israel declares statehood.

Amal is born in the refugee camp, and most of the book is told from her perspective in the years after her family's removal from their home and her mother's loss of her brother, a baby at the time.

  • Badass Bookworm: Hasan
  • Broken Bird: Dalia. And later Amal.
  • Death by Despair: Dalia
  • Despair Event Horizon: Just when you think it can't get any worse, it gets worse and then it gets worse again. Yousef, David and Sara are the only surviving members of the family at the end of it all, and far from happy, and, in Yousef's case, far from safe.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Amal saves her daughter from a soldier and dies as a result.
  • Inspirational Martyr: A lot of people are left with no hope but to become this.
  • Plucky Girl: Most women mentioned start out as this, most notably Dalia and Amal as the plot focuses on them.
  • Scars are Forever: David's scar "would eventually lead him to his truth".

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