Because the World is Round

Jane Saginaw’s endearing account of her 1970 world trip as a 15-year-old is recounted in Because the World is Round, a book belonging to a special category of travel writing, and ideal for Young Adult readers. With the excitement of youth and the mood swings of a teenager, every adventure is remembered affectionately. Whether the predictable outcome of her brother’s eating the fish head presented as a delicacy or the two-day bus trip with him in Iran, readers will be captivated by every recollection.

The highlight of the trip, among many contending experiences, was surely her meeting with Golda Meir, then Prime Minister of Israel, who told her small-group audience to explore Jerusalem with caution, ‘We’re in a bad neighborhood, don’t forget!’

While allowing Saginaw to explore quite freely, she had to respect such rules as, ‘Don’t ask the Tel Aviv shopkeeper about the tattooed numbers on his arm.’ Back in 1970 the subject was not as widely discussed as it has become.

On her semester leave from high school, Saginaw was responsible for her mother’s fortitude in coping with traveling in a wheelchair, the consequence of polio as a young woman. Today, travel opportunities for people with disabilities are notably improved.