Review: Ida in the Middle

Ida in the Middle

Written by: Nora Lester Murad

Interlink Publishing Group Inc

2022

Ida in the Middle follows young Ida as she struggles to find her passion while magically connecting with her Palestinian roots.

Ida in the Middle is a thoughtful novel about a girl who feels lost and out of place being judged by her skin color and race. A powerful story that literally transports Ida back to Palestine, in a world where her family never left.

Storytelling

This story was about a girl who doesn’t feel like she fits in. Not at home and not in school either. The middle child in the family often feels like she had no direction or purpose in life, no passion that drives her the way the rest of the family is.

One day, she ate an olive sent to her mother from Palestine. Only to wake up the next day in Palestine as if her family never left.

Most young adults born in the United States tend to have a disconnect regarding their culture. I speak from experience. We don’t experience a lot, so much we don’t know. And the news only gives us a glimpse of what is happening in the world.

Ida is suddenly thrust into a life where her family never left Palestine, where she is experiencing the hardships and injustice firsthand. Not only that, but she is seeing how her family is affected differently by not having the same opportunities they have in the United States.

There is so much to unpack with this novel. This concept of the grass is greener on the other side. But it’s moving. It is thoughtful because Ida goes back and forth each time she eats an olive. She sees how different her family is, how different she is with them, and learns to question and understand her own connection with her family. She learns about her passions by seeing her family’s passions impacted by where they live. Ida forms stronger connections with her family and has a more profound understanding of her culture. Ida also begins to understand the decisions her family made to move.

Final Thoughts

There is much to unpack with Ida in the Middle, making it an excellent novel for young readers, classroom discussion, and book clubs. It is moving, has excellent character dynamics, and talks about the politics surrounding Palestine in a way that educates brilliantly.

Cynthia Ayala

Cynthia Ayala-Bujnicki majored in Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. Editor-in-chief of Cyn's Workshop, she loves to read and write while tending to her pepper plants. She currently lives in South Florida with her husband, two kids Dante and Selene and two furbabies Mr. J the Kitten who Thinks He's Batman (yes, that is his full name) and Nyx.