The story of your book is so real, poignant, and a kind of eye-opener. How did you come up with this idea?

I got the seed for the story when I was a student at Harvard and saw a Palestinian and an Israeli working together. During the seven years that I lived in Israel, I witnessed so much unnecessary suffering and darkness. I saw a glimmer of hope at Harvard. I wanted to focus on what could be and not just show what was.