Aliaa Betawi – illustratör

A Kirkus Best Book of 2024A Booklist Editors Choice 2024A young Palestinian girl living in diaspora struggles to find her homeland on a map in this gentle and heartfelt picture book.At school, Falasteen and her classmates are tasked with finding their families' home countries on a map, but no matter how hard she looks, Falasteen can't find Palestine.Can a place exist if it's not on a map? Confused, Falasteen turns to her family for answers. Her grandfather, grandmother, and Mama encourage her to see their homeland from a different perspective, and each of their stories helps her understand her people's history and her own place in the world.Filled with beautiful, inspiring illustrations and thoughtful back matter that outlines key terms and historical moments, this is a story of family, resilience and home always being where the heart is.

In this picture book follow-up to A Map for Falasteen, young Falasteen journeys to Palestine for the first time, experiencing both the beauty and unexpected challenges of being in her homeland.Falasteen and her parents are on their way to Palestine just like Falasteen has always dreamed!First, she needs a passport, which has her looooong name written on it. Then, they start their journey, which is far from easy-the plane ride is almost as long as her name; there's a scary guard at the border crossing, who turns Baba away; and it's hard for Mama and Falasteen to figure out which streets they're allowed to drive on.But when they finally arrive in Baba's village, Falasteen makes a new friend-and when he hears her long name, he tells her about grandfather, and her great-grandfather, and her great-great-grandfather, who all lived here and whose names she carries with her. And Falasteen finally starts to feel at home.