The Flame Tree

The Flame Tree is much more than a coming of age story. By focusing on a 12 year Christian, American boy living in the world's largest Muslim nation during the upheaval of 9/11, Richard Lewis sets up a potentially explosive situation. Isaac Williams is the son of two doctors who work at a missionary hospital in Indonesia. An exceptionally bright boy, he considers Indonesia his home, and though he schools with other ex-pat children, his best friend is a local devout Muslim boy, Ismail. But things take an ominous turn in young Isaac's life when the Muslim church across the street from his home compound takes a decidedly extremist turn under a new Imam. People in the community who had previously welcomed Isaac become colder, he starts having nightmares about threatening crows, and he finds a new, hidden gate into the compound. Just as things hit a contentious note in his community, 9/11 explodes and his previously tranquil community rages with a full- blown riot. With panic at a fever pitch, during a mandatory evacuation, complete with Marine escorts, the unthinkable happens and Isaac is taken hostage by the extremist group. To say more would divulge intricate plot details that will leave not only young readers, but also adults, breathless as they get caught in the web of this riveting page-turner. Most importantly though, beyond the action and suspense of this novel lies a thoughtful examination of culture and faith. Lewis does an admirable job here of opening up a very foreign world while also carefully exploring facets of the Muslim and Christian faiths. From the description, it would be easy to assume that this novel pits Muslims against Christians, but remember, this is an extremist group, and care is taken to highlight Islamic beliefs in their less incendiary and dangerous forms. I dare say that this book is timely, and right now, an important read. Not only for youngsters struggling to understand, but also adults.

First-time novelist Richard Lewis' THE FLAME TREE has one of the best opening lines I've read anywhere. "The Tuan Guru Haji Abdullah Abubakar first appeared in twelve-year-old Isaac Williams's largely untroubled life on a Saturday morning in late August." Who could resist continuing? While it is part of Simon and Schuster's young adult publishing programme, THE FLAME TREE is just as easily an adult story -- or, better still, one to share between a parent and a young adult! Isaac's experiences of Islam allow him to broaden his own horizons - "As Isaac read this," writes Lewis, "he found that the pool he had dived into was not so strange and alien after all." And nor is Indonesia an alien land, as presented by Lewis. One feels with Isaac, one tastes, one hears, one sees. Issues and difficulties are confronted honestly, but with compassion. Peace, one comes to believe, may be possible. One book at a time.

. . . are laid out plainly in this story of a young boy caught between cultures and religions. The reader feels Isaac's bewilderment when his best friend - a Muslim - turns against him. Isaac loses his flame tree, the symbol of his sheltering childhood, and all it enfolds (including the security his parents provide, his faith, and the Javanese culture he considered his own). Underneath the fast-paced, page-turning crises lie the basic differences and similarities between Christianity and Islam and how Isaac chooses his own personal path of faith. Richard Lewis has managed to avoid any caracaturization of Isaac's kidnappers. He depicts them as both good and bad, and hasn't lip-synched any politically-correct -- liberal or conservative -- line. I recommend this book to anyone who wants not only excellent, lyrical writing, but something to mentally chew on for a long time.

When Isaac Williams, the 12-year-old son of missionary doctors in Indonesia, experiences an uprising in the small Muslim town he calls home, the divide between Muslim and Infidel becomes personal and quite literally painful. Everything he takes for granted--his family's security, his trust in the people he has lived with for so long, his concept of God, and his bantering, effortless relationship with his best friend--falls apart. As the plot moves through its frank and sometimes horrifying turns, Isaac learns that evil can wear many masks and good might lie in the most startling of places. This is a very, very timely book, and its message in these days of grave cultural divide is vital. The story is a page-turner; it's enormously thought-provoking, and Lewis doesn't let us off the hook easily. He deals with complexities broad and personal, themes of doing bad in the name of good, of humanity and religion, of allegiances, friendship, cruelty and wisdom. His prose is adept, his characters human and believable. And despite the weight of its subject--or because of it--it's a terrific read. If I were to design a curriculum for human understanding in our new century, mandatory for high-school children of all creeds, it would begin with this book and The River Runs Salt, Runs Sweet, by Jasmina Dervisevic-Cesic. I would encourage parents to read The Flame Tree, pass it to their children, and spend some very valuable time discussing it. Susan O'Neill, author, Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam

Every so often, a book comes along with uncanny wisdom and expansive, uninhibited prose. Such is 'The Flame Tree,' by first-time novelist Richard Lewis. 'The Flame Tree' is a coming-of-age action story about a young Christian boy and his parents living in Islamic Indonesia before and after 9/11, and what it means to maintain faith, friendship, and tolerance in an increasingly hostile world. The protagonist, Isaac Williams, is the son of American missionary doctors. His best friend, Ismail Sutanto, is a devout Muslim. As violence between Muslims and Christians escalates following 9/11, Isaac's world begins to unravel when he is taken hostage by an extremist Muslim group. As they struggle to overcome challenges they have never dealt with before, both Isaac and his family must learn the true meaning of what it means to forgive. Much like Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in its tone, this book for ages 12 and up is a valuable learning tool for both teens and adults. 'The Flame Tree' addresses provocative questions about religious and cultural differences, yet is ultimately a story about upholding one's own beliefs while learning to embrace the ideas of others.