The Middle East Book Award

The Middle East Book Award was established in 1999 by the Middle East Outreach Council (MEOC). Its purpose is to recognize books for children and adolescents that contribute to a meaningful understanding of the Middle East.

Books for this award are judged on the authenticity of their protrayal of a Middle Eastern subject, as well as on their characterization, plot, and appeal for the intended audience. Awards are announced in November for books published during the period from January of the previous year through September of the current year. Nominations from teachers and librarians, publishers, and the general public are welcome.

Link to the Middle East Book Award website:http://socialscience.tyler.cc.tx.us/mkho/MEOC/middle_east_book_award.htm

This link containes a list of books receiving the award. The list contains book genre and brief description. Overall the book that we have looked at fit the criteria found on the Award's website. Within our group discussion we noticed that:#1: Award recipients do not have the award seal on the front cover#2: "The Librian of Basra" and "Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq" - are the same story but by different authors; they both received the award. We are wondering why this would happen. Is it because of the different age levels that this books are focused towards? Is it because this is such a prominant topic in this culture?#3: Are any books that receive this award written in Arabic or are they published exclusively in English?

Books that we looked at:Habibi - Naomi Shihab Nye (2000 Winner of Middle East Award)The Librarian of Basra - Jeanette Winter (2005 winner)Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq - Mark Alan Stamaty (2005 Winner)The House of Wisdom - Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland (2000 Winner)

Comment on Habibi

We talked a little bit in class about some different possibilities as to why Poppy made sure that Liyana did not brush her hair in public and also told her that she was not allowed to wear shorts. I think that Poppy was just trying to teach Liyana about the cultural norms that occurred in her new country so she wouldn't be scrutinized by the other people. As an Arab-American and not just an Arab, she stands out a lot more so I think that Poppy doesn't want her to feel like an outsider. I can somewhat relate to this experience because I had a similar situation when I went to India a couple of years ago. My Dad is from India and when I went there with him, he kind of guided me in what was appropriate and what was not. I thought that it was very strange but he did not want my relatives to think that I did not respect the culture. I was told not to talk to the waiters or anyone considered "the help," I had to dress appropriately and wear things that made me look respectable, and I also was not allowed to drink alcohol while we were in front of my elders. This was so strange to me but they have many different rules and cultural norms that I was not used to. Even though I am American, I am also half Indian and it was important that I followed the cultural norms while I was visiting the country.

My feelings about Blogging

I really like that we are using blogging in this class because it forces me to use technology. I absolutely hate technology because I am not comfortable using it. I am probably one of the only people that I know who doesn't have a myspace or facebook page and people think that this is just unheard of. I am not one of those people who can explore how to do things on the computer by myself and I feel that blogging is something that is relatively simple and not that hard to figure out. Blogging has made me more comfortable with using technology and I could see myself creating a blog for my own classroom when I become a teacher. It is a really convenient way to post assignments and communicate and express ideas that you may prefer not to share in class. This also gives everyone a chance to participate and share their thoughts in a way that may not be as intimidating as the classroom setting. I also really like that I can read my classmates blogs and get ideas from them or read up on upcoming events on campus that may pertain to this class. Blogging has put me one step closer to overcoming my fear of using technology and I am glad that I got a chance to learn how to use this system of communication. I also like when the teacher posts questions or asks us to reflect on a certain topic because it forces me to check the page and add new comments to my blog. Otherwise, I often have a tendency to forget to post comments, which is just like me because I am really bad at procrastinating!