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Light Years
He went to school to learn how to kill me. The Israeli girl who ruined his life. Seven people were killed instead. A single mother of two. A computer programmer. Two college students. A grandmother and her four-year-old grandson sharing an ice cream. And Dov, my boyfriend, my heart, the man I wanted to marry, who was there waiting for me.
Maya leaves Israel to study astronomy at the University of Virginia, running from the violence, guilt, and memories of her past. As the narrative switches between Virginia and Israel, we learn about Maya’s life as a soldier, her ambiguous devotion to Israel, and her love for her boyfriend, Dov, who is tragically killed in a suicide bombing. Now, in Virginia, amid the day-to-day pressures of classes, roommates, and fraternity parties, Maya attempts to reconcile her Israeli past with her American future.
From the Hardcover edition.
Maya leaves Israel to study astronomy at the University of Virginia, running from the violence, guilt, and memories of her past. As the narrative switches between Virginia and Israel, we learn about Maya’s life as a soldier, her ambiguous devotion to Israel, and her love for her boyfriend, Dov, who is tragically killed in a suicide bombing. Now, in Virginia, amid the day-to-day pressures of classes, roommates, and fraternity parties, Maya attempts to reconcile her Israeli past with her American future.
From the Hardcover edition.
263 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 11, 2005
9 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
About the author
Tammar Stein
14 books28 followersTammar Stein is the award-winning author of the YA novel, Light Years, a Virginia Reader's Choice book and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 2006. Her second novel, High Dive, was nominated for an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 2009. Kindred, her third novel and the first in a series, was nominated for Teen Choice Best Book Award and received a starred review on Publishers Weekly. Spoils, a companion to Kindred, will be released on December, 2013. Debts, free e-novella will be released in the Fall, 2013.
She recently moved to Virginia where she lives with her family and bilingual dog.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 15, 2007
I don't believe you can pass judgment on a book that you haven't finished, so officially, I cannot say what I think of this book. I can say that the plot intrigued me. From the beginning of the book, the reader knows that the protagonist's boyfriend is killed in a suicide bombing. Yet somehow as I made my way through the first half of the book, I began to care less and less about the boyfriend or the protagonist or the narrative itself. I also have an aversion to similes and metaphors that distract the reader from what is happening, and the book suffers greatly from those. At the same time, there is a metaphor in the book that will stay with me forever because it is so beautiful. The author compares the movement in a crowd to seaweed moving with the waves. It was a perfectly pitched image that not only fit the moment but illuminated it. I wish there had been more of those moments in what I read.
December 25, 2013
Beautiful--I loved it. Heartbreaking, lyrical, unflinching. One of my new favorites. It was imperfect and accurate emotionally and so, so genuine. I can definitely relate to the emotions she experiences with all her new experiences in college--maybe that's why I connected with it so much.
Some of my favorite lines:
"I wondered how he knew that. I wondered if he was trying to break my heart. I was still trying to decide that when I fell asleep."
"I gently hung up the phone and sat in bed, blanket around my shoulders like an Indian chief, thinking."
"The observatory was a round little building, all red brick and climbing ivy. It had a silver dome that opened down the middle to let the telescope peer out. This was my ivory tower, and it was beautiful, serene, and safe. Sometimes there were other students there and some nights I was there alone. It didn't matter to me. There was always this feeling of stillness and magical precision. The perfect balance of the telescope, thirty feet long, that could rotate with the lightest push seemed miraculous to me. To get to the eyepiece, I had to climb a narrow wooden ladder, then settle into the padded seat and stay there, hidden from sight, peeping in on celestial activities, taking notes."
(Because of some mature content and intense subjects, I wouldn't recommend for younger readers.)
Some of my favorite lines:
"I wondered how he knew that. I wondered if he was trying to break my heart. I was still trying to decide that when I fell asleep."
"I gently hung up the phone and sat in bed, blanket around my shoulders like an Indian chief, thinking."
"The observatory was a round little building, all red brick and climbing ivy. It had a silver dome that opened down the middle to let the telescope peer out. This was my ivory tower, and it was beautiful, serene, and safe. Sometimes there were other students there and some nights I was there alone. It didn't matter to me. There was always this feeling of stillness and magical precision. The perfect balance of the telescope, thirty feet long, that could rotate with the lightest push seemed miraculous to me. To get to the eyepiece, I had to climb a narrow wooden ladder, then settle into the padded seat and stay there, hidden from sight, peeping in on celestial activities, taking notes."
(Because of some mature content and intense subjects, I wouldn't recommend for younger readers.)
March 14, 2013
Light Years, my first novel, will always have a special place in my heart. I worked for five years on it never knowing if it would ever see the light of day. That was a huge commitment to put into a dream.
I poured everything I had to make Israeli soldier Maya Laor come alive to my readers. Everything I learned from interviewing IDF soldiers, reading about the military and Israeli life, and my own experiences in Israel went into creating her and to this day, she's my most intense character. She does nothing lightly. Light Years is a tight, fast paced book that sucks you in and spits you out again 265 pages later.
I poured everything I had to make Israeli soldier Maya Laor come alive to my readers. Everything I learned from interviewing IDF soldiers, reading about the military and Israeli life, and my own experiences in Israel went into creating her and to this day, she's my most intense character. She does nothing lightly. Light Years is a tight, fast paced book that sucks you in and spits you out again 265 pages later.
February 10, 2016
Maya leaves Israel to study astronomy at the University of Virginia, running from the violence, guilt, and memories of her past. As the narrative switches between Virginia and Israel, we learn about Mayas life as a soldier, her ambiguous devotion to Israel, and her love for her boyfriend, Dov, who is tragically killed in a suicide bombing. Now, in Virginia, amid the day-to-day pressures of classes, roommates, and fraternity parties, Maya attempts to reconcile her Israeli past with her American future.
May 5, 2009
An interesting look about a girl from Israel who then attends college in the United States. It also provided an interesting look at loving and losing and surviving. I don't have anything spectacular to say about this book, but I also don't have anything terribly negative to say about it, either.
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April 24, 2020Read page 1 – 2.
Maya runs from her family and friends in Israel in the wake of a suicide bombing for which she feels herself responsible. She runs from the memories of her boyfriend, Dov, who was killed in the bombing.
She ends up at the Univ. of Virginia, roommates with Payton Lee Walker, a Daughter of the Am. Revolution if ever there was one. Seemingly mismatched at first, Maya doesn’t think she has anything in common with Payton, nor does she try very hard to make attachments.
Read p. 56: “A part of me truly … come prepared for friendship.”
Maya also doesn’t come prepared to be attracted to any men – but she is attracted to Justin, the teaching assistant (TA) of her large history class.
Read p. 12: “Excuse me … he had already gone back in the café.”
Most days, Maya feels light years away from her homeland and her true life in Israel. Slowly she begins to heal from the trauma of the suicide bombing and learn to live again.
Maya runs from her family and friends in Israel in the wake of a suicide bombing for which she feels herself responsible. She runs from the memories of her boyfriend, Dov, who was killed in the bombing.
She ends up at the Univ. of Virginia, roommates with Payton Lee Walker, a Daughter of the Am. Revolution if ever there was one. Seemingly mismatched at first, Maya doesn’t think she has anything in common with Payton, nor does she try very hard to make attachments.
Read p. 56: “A part of me truly … come prepared for friendship.”
Maya also doesn’t come prepared to be attracted to any men – but she is attracted to Justin, the teaching assistant (TA) of her large history class.
Read p. 12: “Excuse me … he had already gone back in the café.”
Most days, Maya feels light years away from her homeland and her true life in Israel. Slowly she begins to heal from the trauma of the suicide bombing and learn to live again.
April 7, 2020
A story of healing.
November 4, 2008
I just finished reading this book about half an hour ago and I can't even remember the main character's name. Obviously the book didn't affect me all that much! It's about a girl (whose name I can't recall) whose boyfriend was killed in a suicide bombing in Israel. She then narrates the book from both the present day (going to college at the University of Virginia) and from the past (recalling the events that led to tragedy in Israel). I don't think the book was poorly written, although I found it somewhat predictable. Had I not known from the beginning that her boyfriend was dead I might have found the story more engaging. Honestly, I probably never would have read it (nor would I have finished it) if it weren't one of the Virginia Readers' Choice nominees this year.
June 8, 2009
I wanted to like this book more than I did. I found the Israel sections more gripping than the UVA sections, but overall I felt like the book suffered because the author tried to make it relatable to the "ordinary" college student. That made the story uneven -- some fascinating material (especially the heroine's military experience) and some lovely descriptions, but overall it was slightly too cliched to really work. Reminded me a little of Naomi Shihab Nye's "Habibi" (which I thought suffered from being a little too precious, so, apparently I'm just really picky).
I did enjoy all the descriptions of UVA and Charlottesville. Made me homesick.
I did enjoy all the descriptions of UVA and Charlottesville. Made me homesick.
February 4, 2011
Maya Laor was on her way to meet with her boyfriend at a cafe in Israel, when a suicide bomber attacked the cafe. Of course Maya was stuck in traffic avoiding death, but is left living with the guilty conscious of how this could have been avoided. And so begins this this excellent, engrossing young adult novel.
After the bombing Maya leaves Israel to attend college in Virginia. And is thrown into a new world of youthful, innocent American students. Maya floats through college trying to hide her past, and at times lying about where she's from. She walks around with a brick wall. But as much as she wants to avoid letting those around her in
After the bombing Maya leaves Israel to attend college in Virginia. And is thrown into a new world of youthful, innocent American students. Maya floats through college trying to hide her past, and at times lying about where she's from. She walks around with a brick wall. But as much as she wants to avoid letting those around her in
January 21, 2013
yet another piece of teen fiction i took home because i no one was checking it out and i felt sorry for it. i'm really glad i did!
"light years" switches back and forth between maya laor's past and present to tell the story of how she lost her boyfriend to a suicide bombing in her native israel, and how she begins to heal and move on during her freshman year at UVA. i really enjoyed the description of israel's mandatory army service for 18-year-olds as well as life in tel aviv. (snarky comment: as opposed to simone elkeles' "how to ruin a summer vacation" you can actually tell that this book takes place in israel.) highly recommended, even at 8 years old.
"light years" switches back and forth between maya laor's past and present to tell the story of how she lost her boyfriend to a suicide bombing in her native israel, and how she begins to heal and move on during her freshman year at UVA. i really enjoyed the description of israel's mandatory army service for 18-year-olds as well as life in tel aviv. (snarky comment: as opposed to simone elkeles' "how to ruin a summer vacation" you can actually tell that this book takes place in israel.) highly recommended, even at 8 years old.
December 17, 2009
As a newcomer to America, Maya Laor comes to flee the memory of her dead boyfriend. Tangled with guilt for his death, she wants a new start. But this is harder than it seems. I really enjoyed the theme and the culture that was in this book. The portrayal of Israel seemed realistic and the relationship seemed very haunting. The flashbacks between America and Israel kept the book interesting and worth reading.
July 15, 2009
What a beautifully written and captivating story! I finished this one in a day and a half because the story was compelling and original. While I'm not personally tied to Israel or the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, this was an interesting way to capture one experience without being terribly judgemental. A great story and I look forward to getting my hands on this author's second novel.
March 21, 2013
This book was written to share the perspective of the same character at two different points in her life; the style really exemplified the ideas in the writing and was easy to follow. Although I didn't love the way this book ended, I enjoyed seeing Maya's progression throughout the book and would definitely recommend this to others!
January 8, 2008
A really good book and an easy read--I read it in one day (I was also on vacation...). The story of a girl who grew up in Isreal and experienced a tramatic event so came to the States to study at UVA. The chapters go back and forth between events in Isreal and present day at UVA.
July 23, 2008
This is a teen version of the adult book The Attack (which I love). Shows prejudice between ethnic groups very well. helps the reader to understand the tension between Israelis and Palastinians. I think teens would like this.
June 28, 2010
Great young adult book...The main character moves to the US after her boyfriend is killed by a suicide bomber in Israel. She struggles to make sense of her life in a new country while dealing with her guilt for his death.
January 31, 2008
This was an exceptionally good book. Interesting because it focuses on UVA and the Isralei/Palestinian situation. Very well written. Offers a unique perception.
October 20, 2008
Not as good as High Dive, but still a lovely, heartbreaking story. She is a fine writer.
July 22, 2010
One of those books marketed as a YA novel, but emminently suitable for adults. Probably a little mature for many high school students.
June 26, 2012
I ended up really enjoying this book despite some portions earlier that I felt were irrelevant and unnecessary.
November 10, 2012
i enjoyed this book a lot
June 22, 2013
This was a beautifully written novel that I believe really captured the emotions of a girl moving from Israel to the United States. I was able to gain knowledge about life in Israel.
February 5, 2014
I liked this book a lot. At times predictable, but I still enjoyed getting to know the character through two events and times in her life.
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June 3, 2015The main character in this book is a student at UVA
Find it at JMRL: http://aries.jmrl.org/record=b1209231~S9
Find it at JMRL: http://aries.jmrl.org/record=b1209231~S9
general-fiction
March 8, 2019FIC
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews