A Stone in My Hand

With a sharp eye for nuances of culture and the political situation in the Middle East, Clinton has created an emotionally charged novel. - School Library Journal (starred review)

The year is 1988 in Gaza City, and it has been a month since eleven-year-old Malaak's father left to seek work in Israel, only to disappear. Every day Malaak climbs to the roof and waits, speaking little to anyone, preferring the company of the little bird she has tamed. But her twelve-year-old brother has a different way of coping. He feels only anger, stoked by extremists who say violence is the only way to change their fate. Malaak's mother begs the boy to stay away from harm, but Malaak lives in fear of losing her brother as well. What will it take for her to find her voice and the strength to move past the violence that surrounds her? New trade-paperback edtiion.

• Hardcover received 4 starred reviews, IRA Notable, ALA Best Books, IRA Children's Book Award Notable, Booklist Editor's Choice, NY Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
• New discussion guide created exclusively for this paperback
• In light of current events in the Middle East, this novel is timely and relevant.

About the Author

Cathryn Clinton received her bachelor s degree in English from the University of Iowa and her master of fine arts degree from Vermont College. About A Stone in My Hand she says, "While in graduate school in 1998 I had a writing assignment: choose a picture of someone and write about that person. In an article about Gaza in National Geographic, I saw a picture of a young Palestinian girl holding a bird in her hand. There was a look of strength in her face. This intrigued me, and I wondered how this girl had survived both internally and externally when the conditions of her growing up years were so harsh. So I sat down and began writing the story of Malaak."