Beni's War - by Tammar Stein (Paperback)

About the Book

"Beni is unhappy when his family moves to a remote farming community in northern Israel. Everything changes on Yom Kippur when war comes, and his soldier brother Motti goes off to fight. As worries mount about Motti's safety, Beni realizes that he must act to save the day."--

Book Synopsis

It's Yom Kippur Eve in 1973, and twelve-year-old Beni thinks his biggest problem is settling in at his new school in the Golan, where his family moved at the end of the Six-Day War.

But on Yom Kippur, shocking news comes over the radio: a stunning strike on Israel has begun, led by a coalition of Arab states. In the blink of an eye, Beni's older brother Motti is off to war, leaving Beni behind with his mother and father.

As bombs drop around Beni and his family, they flee to safety, every day hoping for news of Motti and the developments of the war. Beni must find a way to aid the war effort in his own way, proving that he too can be a hero, even as he learns along the way that there is dignity in every person, including the people he considers the enemy.

Review Quotes

"Readers will be motivated by Beni's perceptiveness and inspired by the strength he demonstrates through acceptance―even towards the enemy." ―starred, School Library Journal

-- (10/1/2020 12:00:00 AM)

"Beni's War depicts neither an idealized Israel nor a flawed country which needs to be apologized for. Instead, it faithfully paints life as lived in a country where war is never far away." -- Marjorie Gann, retired teacher; author of Five Thousand Years of Slavery, Toronto, Canada, AJL

-- (9/16/2020 12:00:00 AM)

"Readers coping with shattered contemporary realities will recognize themselves in a child's fears and growing empathy." -- Kirkus Reviews

-- (8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM)

"Stein's story is not a coming-of-age story; it is a coming-together story." -- EDITOR'S CHOICE Melissa Warren, Historical Novel Society

-- (5/3/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"What I enjoyed most in this book is the personified experience of a tween; how accurately the author described such everyday inner stories as magical thinking ('get better'), the angst of being bullied, the elevating feeling of forgiving someone, the excitement of learning something new...." -- Jewish Book World

-- (11/2/2020 12:00:00 AM)