Books about Israel in English. The Bat-Chen Diaries Available in Soft Cover and Hard cover. By Bat-Chen Shahak. A Sydney Taylor Award Notable Book of 2009. Named one of Bank Street College of Education's Best Books of the Year. In March 1996, Bat-Chen Shahak was killed by a suicide bomber in Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Center. It was Purim, and it was her 15th birthday. But the gifted teenager left behind a rich legacy of diaries, letters, poems, and drawings. The Bat-Chen Diaries are the first English translation of her writings which have been published in Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, German and Dutch. Bat-Chen wrote about teachers and friends, the angst of young love, and her yearning for peace in the world. There are cards to her Arab pen-pal, a thank you note to her ear doctor, a letter of sympathy to Leah Rabin when her husband, Israel's Prime Minister, was assasinated. Animated with the young girl's drawings and doodles, as well as photos of family and friends, the book captures the life of a sensitive teenager living in a country not yet at peace. Ages 10-14, Grades 5-8, 112 Pages, 5 3/4 x 8 1/2.
