Book Review: Sami and the Time of the Trouble

Heide, Florence, and Gilliland, Judith. Sami and the Time of the Troubles. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.

Sami and the Time of the Troubles tells the story of a ten year old Lebanese boy named Sami who is living in “the time of the troubles” in Beirut, Lebanon. The book is written by Parry Heide and insider author Judith Heide Gilliland who lived in the Middle East and has a master’s degree in Near Eastern languages and literature. This story does an excellent job of depicting what life was like during the time of the Lebanese Civil War which lasted from 1975-1990.
Sami along with his mother, sister and grandfather hides in the basement of his uncle’s house, sometimes for days or weeks at a time when it is not safe to be outside due to “guns and bombs.” On quiet days, or days with no fighting, people can go about their normal lives of work, school and going to the market. On the days when it is not quiet, the family hides in the basement and the reader experiences both the physical and emotional terrors that people of all ages go through in wartime. Sami’s grandfather tells stories of how it used to be peaceful, and how there was not always fighting. The grandfather also tells about the day the children marched in the streets to protest the fighting, and at the end of the story Sami is left with the feeling that if the children march in the streets again, it might help the fighting to stop. At the end of the story the family listens to the radio once again on a bad night, reminding the reader of the harsh reality of the war.
The full bleed illustrations in the novel do an excellent job of complementing the text and telling Sami’s story. On the days with no fighting, the illustrations are bright and uplifting, whereas on the days when there is fighting, the illustrations are set on a black background and are very somber. The illustrations also do an excellent job of giving the reader a glimpse into the Arab culture through the small details. For example, the small illustrations of food in the background show traditional Arabic dishes and the buildings show the same kind of architecture that you would actually see in Beirut. Also, some of the characters are dressed in a way that many Christians would dress in the Middle East, and some are dressed in a way that many Muslims would dress, which depicts an accurate description of the cultural differences within this part of the world.
I found this to be a great piece of diverse literature. Although it is about wartime and includes the fact that there is fighting in the Middle East, it does so in a way that represents Arabs positively. The common thought that there is always fighting in the Middle East can lead to many stereotypes about Arab people, but this story tells about how there was not always fighting, which can help to break stereotypes. The story shows a loving family who wants to see the fighting stop, and disregards any religious or political ideas that could easily be misconstrued though literature. I found the focus of this story to be on the harsh reality of war, and how the human spirit, no matter what age, can be affected by it.

To go along with my review, I thought I would add some personal insight into this story. After reading this story, I thought that it was a historically correct representation of what people went through during the Lebanese Civil War. To confirm this, I called my cousin and read him the story to get his personal take on what he thought about it. The text does not actually say anything about Lebanon, or when the story takes place except for in “the time of the troubles.” However, the copyright page informs the reader that this story takes place in Lebanon during the Civil War. My cousin, now 29, grew up just north of Beirut in the middle of the war. He said that his experiences were very similar to those of Sami. This confirmed to me that the text is accurate and represents a true depiction of many Arab people. He said that there were times when they would be in hiding for days at a time and come out to find buildings destroyed and lives lost. However, like the story says, on the quiet days people did go about life as “normally” as they could. The story is also historically correct in the context of the grandfather who says that life was peaceful before the times of the troubles. Someone old enough to remember life before 1975 in Lebanon would remember very peaceful times in a beautiful country. The experiences and emotions of the fictional character Sami are very typical of the real life experiences of many people Arab people, and this story would be a great one to discuss with students!