Habibi Reading Prompt

I've just finished reading Habibi and I really enjoyed the book. By the end of the story, I felt like a truly knew Liyana. Nye does a great job describing each character and also the setting of the book. Last night, I began writing my reading response to this book at first, I found it very hard to think of a question. I finally decided on writing about the insider/outsider debate and whether Liyana will ever be truly accepted as an insider in any culture that she belongs to. Is Liyana an ousider in America because she is half Arabic and is she also considered an outsider in Pakistan because she is half American? Do you think that Liyana feels as though she belongs to a specific culture and is this feeling important?

By the end of the book, I found myself cheereing for Liyana and Omer and hoping that their love would last! I was very happy for Liyana when her father finally allowed Omer to visit her grandmother's village and I think that this was a very symbolic moment in the book, where two cultures are able to accept each other's differences and create an open and loving environment.