I am having a bit of trouble with this book, which my system purchased, likely unseen, in response to the Oct 7th attacks by Hamas and the desire to represent multiple sides of the issue, because that's what public libraries do and while my county has a large Jewish population, there is also a large Muslim one as well. Fine. Kirkus reviewed it positively, although was very unpolitical which I feel was a cop out.
I get the historical story, and even can accept the author's note which uses terms like "occupier" and "apartheid wall", but a colleague googled the author, which I believe many of our patrons will do and found such disturbing hate-filled statements made by Ghanameh which I think are unprecedented by living authors writing for children. Sure, we have books by Dahl in our collection but somehow the dead antisemites seem to get a pass. I want to send a note to our selector, not to remove the book, but to get some way to help us in the branches when we get complaints. Again, I think the story itself is not the issue, it is knowing that the author is so public and violent with her hate. Is separating the art from the artist what I need to focus on? Thoughts on how I can say this? You are welcome to email me personally. I have never felt so negatively about a purchase before. Judy Ehrenstein Silver Spring, MD
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