Description
Mazen, a young boy, is one day surprised by their neighbor Bassam shouting with anger in the street “My parking spot is a red line!” Does this mean he plans to paint the street red, asks Mazen to his mother? The mother explains to Mazen that what Bassam means is simply that no one is to park in his place. The notion is still vague to Mazen: Why red? Does it have anything to do with red traffic lights? The mother tries again “When something is a red line, it means that it is off limits to others”. In this illustrated album, Samar Barraj boldly addresses the delicate issue of child sexual abuse. Acknowledging the complexity of the boundary it tackles, the book determines it through examples the mother and child raise in their conversation. Mazen’s spontaneous remarks and comments point out the difficulty of defining this red line, and make of the book a realistic example of such a conversation. The illustrations develop the notion further, by representing situations in which the red line might be crossed – one may be on his bicycle, at his computer, or approached by a respectable-looking old man in the street. The body parts are not named, but are represented in a naïve drawing Mazen made, though the text insists on the importance of preserving the body as a whole. The colorful images and constant presence of the mother and parents make of the book a reassuring experience despite the gravity of the topic.
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Marketing Information
* Winner of ‘"Arabi 21" prize, 2015 * The book has been translated to Turkish
Author Biography
Samar Mahfouz Barraj is a Lebanese writer and translator of children’s books. She holds a BA degree and a Teaching Diploma from the American University of Beirut. Samar has published over 54 books, many of which have been translated to different languages, and have been awarded or selected on honor lists, shortlisted and long listed for Awards.
Dar al Saqi
Dar al Saqi is an award-winning independent publishing house based in Beirut. Founded in 1990, their books cover various subjects including children's and young adults’ for ages between 3 and 18.
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher/Imprint Dar Al Saqi / Saqi Kids
- Publication Date February 2014
- Orginal LanguageArabic
- Publication Country or regionLebanon
- FormatPaperback
- Primary Price 7 USD
- Pages24
- ReadershipChildren
- Publish StatusPublished
- Original Language Titleخط أحمر
- EditionFirst Edition
- Dimensions27x20 cm
- IllustrationFull Color Illustrations