Substance: A nominally Jewish girl (of low moral character, one should note) struggles with studies in an Israeli girls' school, encounters anti-Israel Palestinian propaganda, loses her non-existent faith, and opts to leave school for the hot dude with the guitar.
Style: The writing was only fair. ( )

The Book of Trees is a story about a teenager named Mia who decides to deepen her understanding of Judaism and learn more about her Jewish Heritage. She decides to spend her summer in Israel, studying at yeshiva (a seminary) for girls who want to gain more knowledge about their Jewish culture. When I first stumbled upon this book last year on LibraryThing, I was really interested due to what it was about. I don't recall reading many books that take place in Israel or set during the mid 90's, so this definitely appealed to me as a reader.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the book as much as I hoped to. The story did have some good things in it but I don't feel as if the author executed her ideas well. This felt more like a personal rant then a real story. The detail in this book was also over done. There were moments where I honestly wanted to stop reading this book and leave it alone. I was constantly reminded of how hot or dry it was in Jerusalem and I found that irritating.

On another note, what I did like about this book though was the background information about the Jewish culture. I really found the history and traditions of the Jews very interesting but other then that, I didn't enjoy this book. Mia was such a distant protagonist, there was no connection with her. All she did was explore the area of where her yeshiva was located and randomly describe memories of her father.

It was also obvious that Mia's heart was never really into her studies or commitment at the yeshiva. Her need of spiritual understanding wasn't believable and she seemed more a nuisance in Jerusalem then a long lost daughter returning to her Motherland. In short, I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone but if you would like to give this book a chance, then by all means go for it. Perhaps another reader might enjoy this book more then I did. ( )

The Book of Trees was an insightful book into the life of a teen trying to understand herself and her religion.

The main character, Mia, is very realistic. At first she is excited to be studying in Jeruselum for the summer. As her studies wear on, she begins to ask questions that none of the teachers seem willing to answer. As Mia uncovers histories of the Palestinians and begins questioning her beliefs. Mia wants to see the world in black and white, good and bad - that quality is quite relatable to.

The author is quite successful in describing the setting. The book is easy to read and the characters are real. I enjoyed reading The Book of Trees. ( )

Full review:

http://readingthroughlife.ca/the-book-of-trees-review

Short excerpt:

Right from the beginning, I knew that The Book of Trees was going to be different from anything else I had read about the subject. Mia's narrative is sprinkled with Hebrew words rather than the usual Arabic, and the reader also contends with her burgeoning devoutness as a girl "returning" to her Jewish roots. It's made clear from the beginning that Mia is really trying to find her way in the yeshiva - she hadn't been religious until recently back in Toronto, and this trip is supposed to be part of her religious education.

I found this book disappointing because it shows a young woman going through a lot of changes in her life to get back to exactly where she started from. When we meet Mia, from living a shallow life of sex, drugs, and drinking in Toronto, she has had a religious epiphany of sorts and come to Jerusalem on a scholarship to study her Jewish heritage. Once there, however, she finds the yeshiva a little more confining than she expected and opts for a morning of study and an afternoon of volunteer work. As she learns more about the history of Israel and begins to see the land not as a tabula rasa made beautiful by the Zionist settlers but as a palimpsest where Israeli pine trees have replaced ancient Palestinian olive groves, I felt deeply moved and got very excited about where the story was going.

Had someone absconded with the book and left me to write a review at that point, I would have given it 5 stars. But as the story progresses, Mia's religious conversion turns out to be as shallow as her former life; she begins lying, cutting classes, neglecting her volunteer work (let's hope the seniors weren't counting on her); admittedly spending one afternoon doing some heavy physical work in aid of dispossessed Palestinians, but mostly obsessing over her new crush Andrew, a non-Jewish Canadian. By the end of the story, she's dropped out of the yeshiva, moved in with Andrew (whom she's known for a matter of several weeks) and is back to sex, drugs and planning to do (not yet doing) some vaguely defined work for peace.

During the course of the story Mia never meets anyone Jewish who is capable of giving a good reason for the practice of Judaism or a balanced view of the Palestinian conflict, so the cast of characters is rather lacking; come to think of it, it also lacks well-defined Palestinian characters. Mia gives no thought to perhaps coming to a way of life that incorporates justice and religion; no thought to the possible value of morality; no thought to questioning the sex-and-drugs lifestyle she once tried and found wanting; she simply gives up on Judaism as a bad job and she's back in her old ways. With all the wonderful background on Judaism and Israel, the sense of place in Jerusalem, this book had a lot going for it. Too bad it didn't go very far. ( )