The Year

by Suzanne Lange

Eighteen-year-old Ann Sanger leaves the United States, despite the opposition of her parents, with a group of young Americans and Canadians to help with the work of an Israeli kibbutz near the Syrian border.

188 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short concise read on life in an Israeli kibbutz in 1965, from the point of view of a 20 year old woman from America. I am glad I read it, and glad I don't live a) in a kibbutz, b) in Israel in 1965. I understand the woman's parents who try to persuade her to stay in America; they're Jewish. She was born in 1945; therefore her parents would have been born around 1920-25 and lived through the Depression, either in the U.S. or elsewhere, and then through WWII. They have now no need to "see life as it really is", and are aware of just how blessed they are to live in America. I agree with them, but I have adult children who also don't have my perspective. I understand her need to see things differently and to feel that she is making a positive difference in the world, where from her point of view her parents have "settled" and are not making much difference at all. They've already made decisions in their own lives; she needs to gain perspective so that she can make her own decisions.
The book is well-written and since the author was at one time a 20 year old on a kibbutz, I assume it's an accurate novelization.