 | Fig Tree: A Story About Building Friendship And Peace In Cyprus Author: Manoli, Costantia | |
| Price: $14.24 | ||
Summary:
A lonely fig tree on the divided island of Cyprus remembers past unity and dreams of a future where two children, one from each side of the island, come together to share her fruit and mend their broken bonds.
Reviews:
Booklist (09/01/25)
The Hornbook (00/09/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 09/01/2025 On Cyprus, a fig tree serves both as a witness to the island’s division and a symbol of hope for its reconciliation. Textured mixed-media collage in vibrant colors depicts the fig tree in summer, ripe with purple-jeweled fruit left unattended and surrounded by dark, weed-like barbed wire. Lyrical text conveys the tree’s memories of a past summer when neighbors from different cultures played, lived, and gathered her fruit together, until invading soldiers forced neighbors and families apart. The details are vague, but the sentiments about war are clear. When a general’s green line on a map becomes a physical barricade that divides Cyprus, the fig tree is caught in the middle, isolated just like the friends and families on each side of the island. The fig tree also imagines a future summer without the Green Line, in which children from both sides enjoy her fruit once again. Colors, particularly greens and pinks, reinforce this symbolism. An author’s note explains the centuries-old conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and the continuation of the Green Line. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.
