A Woman in Jerusalem & The Book of Intimate Grammar

A Woman in Jerusalem would be a great book to use in the high school classroom.  It is the tale of one man's attempt to find the identity of a woman killed in a terroist bombing in Jerusalem and then his quest to return her body to her homeland.  While the main characters are Jewish, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is not given much weight.  When mentioned, it is referred to as "someone else's war."  Great topics for class discussion include the lack of character names (the only character named in the book is the dead woman), the sensationalism of the press, the varying concepts of what it means to be human(e) and inhuman(e), and the drive of moral duty.  While the book is told mainly from the resource manager's perspective, this is interrupted by short segements in which the plot is unfolded using onlookers (cleaning ladies, villagers, and soldiers, for example).  A Woman in Jerusalem is accessible and needs very little background information, although students would benefit from an understanding of the conflict in Israel and some background on the Cold War.


The Book of Intimate Grammar by David Grossman is not school-appropriate due to sexual references including bestiality.