First off, I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, and I'm grateful to the publisher for the opportunity to read it.

This was a solid, interesting memoir--Ameri's prose is simplistic but also lets us into her world in such a welcoming way, moving seamlessly between her personal life and activist work and showing (critically) just how intertwined the two are. She doesn't try to explain or rationalize her work on behalf of Palestinians, work she does note that she does alongside Israeli people, and other Jewish people, and I think that is really important in a world where people are often demanded to explain how work for Palestine and Palestinians is not anti-semitic (unreasonably so.) I also learned about number of famous Arab American folks who I didn't know were Arab American (Diane Rehm? James Abourezk???) which was a nice surprise at the end!

I kind of wish I had read Ameri's first book, The Scent of Jasmine; it felt like I had missed some things of the early book, and though I'm sure this is fine on its own, it did raise some questions for me about her earlier life. I guess I will just have to go back and read that! But this was a thoughtful and interesting memoir of an important activist, and I think it's super accessible for folks who would benefit from this kind of history!