Torn vs Under the persimmon tree: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Afghan War, Afghanistan, War, Children's fiction, Fiction
Torn
Only eighteen when she is sent to Afghanistan, British army medic Elinor Nielson is continually at odds with her hardnosed bunkmate, Heidi Larson, but connects with a mysterious Afghan girl and other local children, as…
vs
Under the persimmon tree
During the 2001 Afghan War, the lives of Najmal, a young refugee from Kunduz, Afghanistan, and Nusrat, an American-Muslim teacher who is awaiting her huband's return from Mazar-i-Sharif, intersect at a school in…
The verdict
- Readers rate Torn highest: Torn 3.9 · Under the persimmon tree 3.6.
- Under the persimmon tree has the widest readership — 1456 ratings behind its score.
- Under the persimmon tree runs the darker storyline; Torn stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Torn | Under the persimmon tree | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.6 (1456) |
| Hardcover | 3.5 (2) | — |
| Google Books | 5.0 (3) | — |
Reception
| Torn | Under the persimmon tree | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 3 | 1456 |
| Editions | 3 | 4 |
| Want to read | — | 1136 |
| Reading it now | — | 69 |
| Written reviews | — | 202 |
| Wikipedia attention | 1016 | — |
| Pages | — | 296 |