The Weight of the Sky (review)

Dissatisfied with her chunky body, her cliquish high school, and her prosaic college plans, Sarah reluctantly takes up her mother's offer of a trip to Israel in the summer before senior year. From her initial visit with relatives to her arrival on a kibbutz, Sarah finds herself in the midst of a slightly older crowd, many of whom have completed requisite military service, and she is awed by their glamour and worldliness. Flattered by the attention of handsome soldier, Lior, she's delighted to discover she can be the object of romantic attention, even if it's infatuation for her and shallow flirtation for him. Likewise, arduous labor on the kibbutz hardens her body and builds her confidence. Mixed in with these somewhat typical coming-of-age themes, however, is Sarah's conflicted relationship with Israel itself. She's drawn to the land and smitten with the romance of its history but appalled by the almost casual acceptance of risk among its citizens and the problematic treatment of Palestinians that she observes in her travels, and if at one point she had fancied herself connected to some vague nobility of the Zionist founders, it quickly gave way to the harsh reality of pulling weeds under a scorching sun. Sarah narrates in free verse that veers between flights of spiritual exuberance and mundane comments on the cafeteria food. On the whole, however, the tonal shift is appropriate to Sarah's changeable moods, and although readers will hardly be surprised when Sarah flees the country after hearing that Lior has been killed, they will be even less surprised at her plan to attend Hebrew University and reconcile with her cultural roots.