BOY, EVERYWHERE by A.M. Dassu

Boy, Everywhere by A.M. Dassu

Realistic Fiction, Immigration & Emigration, Refugees, Syria, Family, Friendship, courage

2021; 397 pages
 

Description

Sami loves his life in Damascus, Syria, but when war breaks out his parents decide they must flee their home for the safety of the UK.

School Library Journal Xpress (February 12, 2021)

Gr 5 Up-"I didn't realize how good life was until it all went wrong" Eighth grader Sami al-Hafez leads a privileged life in Damascus, Syria. His biggest concern used to be whether he and his best friend would make the soccer team. But when his mother and younger sister are injured in a bombing of a local shopping mall, Sami and his family realize that the Syrian civil war is now at their doorstep and they must leave their home. The author not only chronicles Sami's perilous journey from Syria, through Turkey and Greece, and eventually to England, but the difficulty of leaving loved ones behind and starting anew in a country where the laws and people aren't so welcoming. Short chapters help keep the pace of this first-person narrative moving, even when we see Sami waiting for circumstances to change-a situation that is reinforced throughout the story as common to being a refugee. For readers who enjoyed Katherine Marsh's Nowhere Boy or Jasmine Warga's Other Words for Home, this book also offers a fresh perspective and a relatable main character. The text could be paired with Don Brown's graphic nonfiction title The Unwanted for academic purposes. VERDICT Dassu provides a fresh perspective on the Syrian refugee experience, giving readers a glimpse at a range of ordeals. Recommended for purchase.-Monisha Blair, formerly at Rutgers Univ., NJ © Copyright 2021. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

My Comments

This is a page-turner with an important perspective. Highly recommended.

A LAND OF PERMANENT GOODBYES by Atia Abawi

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi

Realistic Fiction, Refugees, Bombings, Civil War

2018: 285 pages

Description
School Library Journal (December 1, 2017)

Gr 7 Up-Told from the point of view of Destiny, this novel focuses on one Syrian family tragically affected by a senseless and brutal war. Tareq, the eldest son, along with his father and young sister, are the only members of their immediate family still alive after their village is bombed. The only practical means of survival is to flee their homeland for Turkey, Greece, and ultimately, Germany, to evade persecution and probable (if not inevitable) death. Abawi presents a gripping, heartbreaking story about the refugee crisis in Syria, and how all wars cruelly impact people, society, and nations. The author does not shy away from many of the barbaric acts of terrorism perpetrated against the anti-establishment Muslim citizens: beheadings followed by vacant-eyed human heads posted on metal spikes to terrorize nonbelievers into compliance. She contrasts this poignantly, memorably, and poetically with the endearing way she describes Tareq and his loving family. Several other characters are introduced. Alexia, an American on vacation in Greece, decides to stay in the country to help. Her story is an integral one as it merges with Tareq's arrival, though the thread ends somewhat abruptly. Overall, Abawi skillfully places humanity enmeshed in war into two sides: the "hunters" who feed on the suffering and the "helpers" who lend a hand. VERDICT An inspiring, timely, and must-have account about the Syrian refugee disaster and the perils of all wars; best supplemented with nonfiction information for research purposes.-Etta Anton, Yeshiva of Central Queens, NY © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

My Comments

This is an unforgettable book that can do much to inspire compassion and understanding in readers. It can also encourage curiosity to learn more about global unrest. Although there is no gratuitous violence, there are disturbing descriptions as described in the review above, including the implication of rape. These scenes are not dwelled upon and are part of the fabric of the refugee experience. The overwhelming takeaway is the refugees' fear, uncertainty, hunger, cold, loss, and grief. Highly recommended for grades 8 and up.

 

ACROSS SO MANY SEAS by Ruth Behar

Across Many Seas by Ruth Behar

Historical Fiction, Discrimination, Immigration, Refugees, Sephardic Jews

2024; 258 pages

Description Kirkus Reviews starred (December 1, 2023)

Four 12-year-old Sephardic Jewish girls in different time periods leave their homelands but carry their religion, culture, language, music, and heritage with them. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella’s expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 sends Benvenida fleeing from Toledo with her family, though she promises to remember where she came from. In 1923, Reina celebrates Turkish independence with her longtime friend and neighbor, a Muslim boy, causing her strict father to disown her and send her to live with an aunt in Cuba as punishment. Reina brings her mother’s oud with her and passes it on to Alegra, her daughter, who serves as a brigadista in Castro’s literacy campaign before fleeing to the U.S. in 1961. In Miami in 2003, Paloma, Alegra’s daughter, who has an Afro-Cuban dad, is excited to travel to Spain with her family to explore their roots. They find a miraculous connection in Toledo. Woven through all four girls’ stories is the same Ladino song (included with an English translation); as Paloma says, “I’m connected to those who came before me through the power of the words we speak, the words we write, the words we sing, the words in which we tell our dreams.” Behar’s diligent research and her personal connection to this history, as described in a moving author’s note, shine through this story of generations of girls who use music and language to survive, tell their stories, and connect with past and future. Powerful and resonant. (sources) (Historical fiction. 10-15)

My Comments
An informative, accessible book. The plot offers a window into a wide span of history that encompasses the world. I learned so much from this book and was moved by the courage of its characters. Highly recommend for grades 6-8.

CHILD SOLDIER: When Boys and Girls are Used in War by Jessica Dee Humphreys and Michel Chikwanine

Graphic Novel, Refugees, War, Africa, Memoir

47 pages.

From the Publisher

"Michel Chikwanine was five years old when he was abducted from his school-yard soccer game in the Democratic Republic of Congo and forced to become a soldier for a brutal rebel militia. Against the odds, Michel managed to escape and find his way back to his family, but he was never the same again. After immigrating to Canada, Michel was encouraged by a teacher to share what happened to him in order to raise awareness about child soldiers around the world, and this book is part of that effort. Told in the first person and presented in a graphic novel format, the gripping story of Michel's experience is moving and unsettling. But the humanity he exhibits in the telling, along with Claudia Davila's illustrations, which evoke rather than depict the violent elements of the story, makes the book accessible for this age group and, ultimately, reassuring and hopeful. The back matter contains further information, as well as suggestions for ways children can help. This is a perfect resource for engaging youngsters in social studies lessons on global awareness and social justice issues, and would easily spark classroom discussions about conflict, children's rights and even bullying. Michel's actions took enormous courage, but he makes clear that he was and still is an ordinary person, no different from his readers. He believes everyone can do something to make the world a better place, and so he shares what his father told him: ?If you ever think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito.'"

My Comments

Powerful storytelling. Extremely successful in portraying the tragedy and injustice of using children as soldiers - the cruelty, the evilness of this practice. Teachers and parents should read first to be aware of the contents, but the authors manage to be truthful in an age appropriate delivery. They offer valuable resources for more information and ideas for young people to take action. A valuable addition to the library collection.

There are not many middle school age appropriate books written on this extremely disturbing topic, but portions of A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beal may be useful. Another memoir,  Facing the Lion: Growing Up Masaii in the African Savannah by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton tells the inspiring story of how a village in Kenya supported a young boy in his quest for education.  

THE NIGHT DIARY by Veera Hiranandani

Historical Fiction, Diaries Fiction, Refugees, Multicultural
264 pages

From the Publisher (Dial Books for Young Readers)

In the vein of Inside Out and Back Again and The War That Saved My Life comes a poignant, personal, and hopeful tale of India's partition, and of one girl's journey to find a new home in a divided country

It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.

Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.

Told through Nisha's letters to her mother, The Night Diary is a heartfelt story of one girl's search for home, for her own identity...and for a hopeful future.

 My Comments

Hiranandani succeeds in portraying the tragic effects of prejudice and ethnic conflict through the eyes of a young girl. An important topic.