Review: Strangers in Jerusalem
Strangers in Jerusalem by Kerry Olitzky & Inas Younis, illustrated by Maryana Kachmar Brandylane Publishers, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shanna Silva Buy at Bookshop.org Strangers in Jerusalem is, at its core, a book about kindness and embracing people who are different from oneself. Three girls, strangers at first, help each other locate holy sites in Jerusalem. Each has been asked to visit a house of worship that is not her own: Muslim Leila visits a church for a Christian friend, Jewish Rachel visits a mosque to give charity on behalf of a Muslim neighbor, and Muslim Asma visits the Western Wall to place a note for a Jewish friend. Differing backgrounds are no barrier to friendship here, as kindness and helpfulness bond the girls in friendship. The story shows an idealized and hopeful world of peaceful co-existence, where commonalities are more important than differences. The innocence of the children, who are naïve to the frictions between religious groups in Israel,