Before you read The Eleventh Trade please try to read Sonam and the Silence. This will help you understand the importance of the rebab and why the loss of this precious instrument is so utterly dreadful.
Sami and his grandfather have arrived in America after a long journey from their homeland in Afghanistan. The other members of the family are all dead. Sami and his grandfather have spent time in wretched circumstances in Istanbul, Athens and Iran. Finally they have somewhere safe to live in Boston. Baba (grandfather) is a skilled musician but he now plays his beautiful antique rehab in the subway to raise money for food and living expenses.
"Back in Afghanistan, before the Taliban came, Baba was a famous performer. People would pay thousands of Afghanis to hear him play."
As the story opens Sami has arrived at the subway. His grandfather leaves Sami for a moment to go to the bathroom.
"I flick my fingers over the rehab's three main strings. The mulberry wood base presses into my chest. ... The pegbox at the end of the neck is carved in a flower design, with one end chipped where Baba dropped it in Iran. The tassel - woven by my grandmother in blue and white string with red beads - swings as I adjust the rebab in my lap."
Sami is transported by his own playing to memories of his mother (mor) and father (plar). His eyes are closed and while he plays someone snatches the rebab from his hands and runs away. Sami chases the teenager but the precious instrument is lost. Sami feels enormous guilt. He has badly let his grandfather down.
Sami has felt utterly alone at school but one boy, Dan, offers to help him. Dan finds the rebab for sale on the internet at a guitar shop but when Sami goes there the owner demands $700. Now go back to the title and the word "Trade". Sami begins to trade things to make the money so he can retrieve the rebab. The shop owner gives him one month. These are the twenty eight days of Ramadan. If Sami can raise the $700 he can give the rebab back to Baba as an Eid gift.
Alyssa Hollingsworth allows the reader to slowly discover what happened to Sami and his parents in Afghanistan. It is a heart wrenching but important story. Along the way Sami makes new and wonderful friends and he does raise, with a huge effort, the necessary $700 but when he arrives back at the guitar store the rebab has been sold.
I read this book in three huge gulps - up to chapter 9 in one breath, then on to the end of chapter 19 and finally one more breath to reach the end of this utterly splendid book. You can hear a radio interview with Alyssa here. Here are a set of teachers notes from the publisher. This is a book you must put on your own "to read" list.
I would pair The Eleventh Trade with No Ballet Shoes in Syria.
Both a quest story and a friendship story, this book brings to life the traumatic reality refugee children experience in a world filled with borders and walls. Kirkus
Readers will cheer Sami on in his quest and cry with him when he shares his worst experiences. A true read for empathy and a great story of our times. Book Murmurmation
1 comment:
Hello, I just wanted to say thank you for your blog. I've been reading it for several years and continue to find it an immensely useful resource to keep my avid 11yo reader in a steady stream of fantastic books. He often then makes new book recommendations to his own school library. He read 'The Eleventh Trade' last week and loved it. Thank you!
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