As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow
Zoulfa Katou
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published September 13, 2022

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About As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow

A love letter to Syria and its people, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a speculative novel set amid the Syrian Revolution, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility. Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Salt to the Sea.

Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her older brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life. 

Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe. 

But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.  
 
Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are—not a war, but a revolution—and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria’s freedom.

My Review

It was hard for me to read some of the chapters in the book because they detail an up-close look at the revolution in Syria. It’s intense, with Salama fearing for her life at every turn and dealing with the ongoing trauma of the losses she’s experienced and the flow of patients visiting the hospital after being wounded by the warfare.

Salama lives in fear of what will happen to her family members and herself. Every time she leaves her apartment, she faces the possibility of death. She sees so many children harmed by the war. Khawf may be the product of her fear and trauma, but he is as cruel as her circumstances. He forces her to relive her losses, threatening to torment her with more vivid hallucinations if she doesn’t take steps to leave the country.

Meeting Kenan brings some brightness to her life. The two share a sweet romance, one that respects the customs and values of their culture, and shows their deep feeling for one another. They bond over a shared love for Studio Ghibli films and their dreams of writing stories or animating films.

The contrast between the lightness of their relationship and the heaviness of life in war-torn Homs really stood out in this story. Salama feels so torn between needing to help her people and yet still longing for joy and wanting to craft a life with a future for herself. It was easy to feel every emotion she experienced through the writing and descriptions.

Conclusion

I’m so glad I read this book, even though some parts made me uncomfortable. It was good to sit with the reminder of how ugly war is and the high cost for the civilians living in a war-torn area. I recommend the book for readers interested in stories about Syria and the Middle East. It’s also a great choice for anyone interested in YA with a protagonist with medical expertise.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
References to Islamic prayers and holidays.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to rape and torture. (Not shown on scene.) Salama relives fractured memories of her loved ones’ deaths. Salama helps treat civilians (including children) who are victims of bombing, sniper attacks, and chemical warfare. A soldier executes a child and mother. Soldiers repeatedly hit someone and start to assault a young woman. (Someone stops this from happening.)

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed this book from the library. All opinions are my own.