A heartfelt but disappointing attempt at convincingly presenting a Syrian refugee’s perspective.
A Syrian teen grows up quickly when her family becomes refugees in Jordan.
Safiya is a 12-year-old girl whose life carried on normally despite the ongoing Syrian civil war, as the conflict had yet to truly affect her city of Damascus. This all changes when a client of her father’s law practice is pursued by the government’s secret police and Safiya’s world is turned upside down. She and her family are forced to flee their home and live as refugees in Jordan, where her late mother came from. Safiya quickly learns that she must adapt in order to survive in this new country, living in a tent without a means of income or status. Though the details of the war are well explained and the author—who has worked in Syrian refugee camps in Jordan—attempts to write persuasively from the perspective of a Syrian girl, with Arabic words sprinkled throughout, the book falls short in conveying the cultural setting and authentically representing a Syrian family. Generic descriptions fail to bring Syria and Jordan vividly to life, and the story feels like it could have been about refugees from any country. Additionally, the author describes characters and situations in ways that at times reinforce Western stereotypes. Though Middle Eastern readers may not feel represented, the themes of hard work and family triumph will resonate with many readers. Occasional ink-wash–style illustrations supplement the text.
A heartfelt but disappointing attempt at convincingly presenting a Syrian refugee’s perspective. (map, author's note) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5098-2824-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.
In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you’ve ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school–aged refugees—Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo—eventually intertwine for maximum impact.
Three countries, three time periods, three brave protagonists. Yet these three refugee odysseys have so much in common. Each traverses a landscape ruled by a dictator and must balance freedom, family, and responsibility. Each initially leaves by boat, struggles between visibility and invisibility, copes with repeated obstacles and heart-wrenching loss, and gains resilience in the process. Each third-person narrative offers an accessible look at migration under duress, in which the behavior of familiar adults changes unpredictably, strangers exploit the vulnerabilities of transients, and circumstances seem driven by random luck. Mahmoud eventually concludes that visibility is best: “See us….Hear us. Help us.” With this book, Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliant, offering a skillfully wrought narrative laced with global and intergenerational reverberations that signal hope for the future. Excellent for older middle grade and above in classrooms, book groups, and/or communities looking to increase empathy for new and existing arrivals from afar.
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. (maps, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-88083-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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