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chantelspeaks's review against another edition
4.0
For more reviews, head to my blog Chantel Speaks
"Your homeland is not a hotel you can check out of if the service is bad"
The Girl from Aleppo is a memoir about a teenager with a disability, and her journey from Syria to Germany. It follows Nujeen and her sister as they journey across Europe as refugees.
As a person with disability who uses a wheelchair, when I read about the story of Nujeen Mustafa, it was the kind of thing that put fear in the pit of my stomach. I have always considered the hypothetical situation of, if my home was no longer safe to live, how would I ever be able to leave safely with everything a disability brings? I have never known how I'd even begin to survive.
I think this fear is born from not seeing disabled people represented in war or refugee situations positively - showing that people do in fact encounter these situations and they find a way. I have to confess, apart from Nujeen Mustafa's story, I can only think of a handful of other instances of refugees with disability shown in mainstream media over the course of my life.
Nujeen Mustafa was a teenager with Cerebal Palsy living with her family in an apartment complex in Aleppo, Syria before the war started. She was home-schooled and only left home as needed, as she could only leave by being carried up and down the stairs of her family's apartment. She learnt English by watching American TV shows, in particular Days of Our Lives, which Nujeen refers to throughout the book.
When the fighting and bombing comes, Nujeen and her family are forced to flee to nearby Turkey. Splitting from their parents there, Nujeen and her sister make the difficult decision to continue the journey to Germany where their brother is already waiting. Not having enough money for smugglers, the sisters travel together journeying toward Germany bit by bit.
Reading this memoir as a disabled person, I didn’t see a lot of the “this is an inspiration”, but rather “yep, this is how people live and they need to keep on living somehow”. I really related to a lot of the decisions Nujeen made throughout her journey and her feelings as she traveled. There were also a lot of great moments where you got a taste of her humour and personality, such as in her love of American soap operas.
For me, this was not an inspirational memoir, but a story of survival and determination. It is also story that many people with disability have had to face before in one way or another, we just rarely hear their stories in mainstream media. I’m glad we’ve gotten to hear Nujeen’s voice here, and we need to hear more from people like her.
"Your homeland is not a hotel you can check out of if the service is bad"
The Girl from Aleppo is a memoir about a teenager with a disability, and her journey from Syria to Germany. It follows Nujeen and her sister as they journey across Europe as refugees.
As a person with disability who uses a wheelchair, when I read about the story of Nujeen Mustafa, it was the kind of thing that put fear in the pit of my stomach. I have always considered the hypothetical situation of, if my home was no longer safe to live, how would I ever be able to leave safely with everything a disability brings? I have never known how I'd even begin to survive.
I think this fear is born from not seeing disabled people represented in war or refugee situations positively - showing that people do in fact encounter these situations and they find a way. I have to confess, apart from Nujeen Mustafa's story, I can only think of a handful of other instances of refugees with disability shown in mainstream media over the course of my life.
Nujeen Mustafa was a teenager with Cerebal Palsy living with her family in an apartment complex in Aleppo, Syria before the war started. She was home-schooled and only left home as needed, as she could only leave by being carried up and down the stairs of her family's apartment. She learnt English by watching American TV shows, in particular Days of Our Lives, which Nujeen refers to throughout the book.
When the fighting and bombing comes, Nujeen and her family are forced to flee to nearby Turkey. Splitting from their parents there, Nujeen and her sister make the difficult decision to continue the journey to Germany where their brother is already waiting. Not having enough money for smugglers, the sisters travel together journeying toward Germany bit by bit.
Reading this memoir as a disabled person, I didn’t see a lot of the “this is an inspiration”, but rather “yep, this is how people live and they need to keep on living somehow”. I really related to a lot of the decisions Nujeen made throughout her journey and her feelings as she traveled. There were also a lot of great moments where you got a taste of her humour and personality, such as in her love of American soap operas.
For me, this was not an inspirational memoir, but a story of survival and determination. It is also story that many people with disability have had to face before in one way or another, we just rarely hear their stories in mainstream media. I’m glad we’ve gotten to hear Nujeen’s voice here, and we need to hear more from people like her.
joana_stormblessed's review against another edition
I will not rate this book because it is someone's personal story.
I will however say that this book has changed something in me. I had my eyes opened on more than one occasion and it was heartbreaking to hear the stories of these people fleeing a country where they couldn't be safe anymore.
Video review to come
I will however say that this book has changed something in me. I had my eyes opened on more than one occasion and it was heartbreaking to hear the stories of these people fleeing a country where they couldn't be safe anymore.
Video review to come
11corvus11's review against another edition
4.0
I've always wanted to read more about Syria and have struggled to understand if I can trust the biggest names out there to tell the truth. I stumbled across this book and was excited to find a story by a disabled young woman discussing her youth as a Syrian and someone labeled a refugee and migrant. I definitely learned a lot from this book and understand things a little better. Her story is engaging, interesting, and of course devastating at times. I liked how she represented disability- she was neither a super-crip inspiration nor a sad case of pity. She did well conveying how her disability means she's a person with different needs- many of which are not met by abled societies even when they're not in the middle of a war or on a crowded boat. There were a couple of things she said that made me balk- particularly blaming women who wear scant clothing for their assaults by men because their clothing gives the "wrong idea." There are certainly cultural differences there but most Syrian refugee men get by fine without becoming confused into committing rape somehow. The men that do harm know what they're doing. The problem is that it's likely that the same proportion rape as any other group of men. The targeting of all men of color as rapists is a very common Western theme used to further white supremacy. I think there's a chance she just worded that wrong. And it stuck out far because the rest of her writing does not let aggressors off the hook like that, even though she does her best not to judge people.
Anyways, it's a worthwhile experience to hear/read her story if you're interested in what it's like to be fleeing a war-torn country. It may be something good to hand to someone who's having trouble empathising with refugees who needs to understand how critical it is for us to support them and how important it is to include women and girls, disabled people, and other marginalized people's needs in navigating how we best support them.
Anyways, it's a worthwhile experience to hear/read her story if you're interested in what it's like to be fleeing a war-torn country. It may be something good to hand to someone who's having trouble empathising with refugees who needs to understand how critical it is for us to support them and how important it is to include women and girls, disabled people, and other marginalized people's needs in navigating how we best support them.
paperlove's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
2.5
In diesem Buch wird die Flucht von Syrien nach Deutschland, der damals 16-jährigen Nujeen Mustafa geschildert, die seit ihrer Kindheit aufgrund eines Geburtsgebrechens auf einen Rollstuhl angewiesen ist.
Obwohl die Themen im Buch wichtig und berührend sind, hat mich das Buch aber von der Erzählart her nicht überzeugt. Es werden immer wieder nüchtern historische Fakten eingepflegt, die die Erfahrungen von Nujeen einordnen, und sich mit persönlichen Erzählungen abwechseln, wie es überhaupt zu Nujeens Flucht gekommen ist und wie diese Flucht letztendlich ausgesehen hat. Leider werden auch die persönlichen Erfahrungen überraschend sachlich und emotionslos erzählt, sodass mich etwa die Erwähnung des 2-jährigen Alan Kurdi, dessen Foto seines leblosen Körpers am Strand als Symbol für die Flüchtlingskrise um die Welt ging, 10x mehr mitgenommen, als die ganze Erzählung von Nujeen.
Nujeen selbst wirkt im Buch nicht gerade wie ein Sympathieträger. Obwohl ihr Umfeld sich stets sehr um sie kümmert und dafür sorgt, dass die Flucht samt Rollstuhl gelingt, scheint Nujeen dafür wenig Dankbarkeit zu empfinden. Einige Szenen habe ich auch als befremdlich wahrgenommen, etwa als sie auf dem Schlauchboot Richtung Europa ist und herausschreit, wie viel Freude ihr der Wellengang macht, während ein Schlauchboot nach dem anderen um sie herum kentert...
Für mich wirkte Nujeen emotional sehr kühl. Statt seitenweise über ihre amerikanischen Lieblingsserien zu schreiben, die sie jahrelang geschaut hat, hätte ich gerne etwas mehr Einblick in ihre emotionale Welt bekommen - gerade wenn sie sich schon entscheidet, ihre Geschichte zu erzählen. Der jahrelange Krieg und die ständigen Gefahren auf der Flucht können einen doch nicht so kaltlassen und hätten bestimmt genügend Stoff geliefert, der Erzählung mehr emotionale Tiefe zu vergeben. Schade.
Obwohl die Themen im Buch wichtig und berührend sind, hat mich das Buch aber von der Erzählart her nicht überzeugt. Es werden immer wieder nüchtern historische Fakten eingepflegt, die die Erfahrungen von Nujeen einordnen, und sich mit persönlichen Erzählungen abwechseln, wie es überhaupt zu Nujeens Flucht gekommen ist und wie diese Flucht letztendlich ausgesehen hat. Leider werden auch die persönlichen Erfahrungen überraschend sachlich und emotionslos erzählt, sodass mich etwa die Erwähnung des 2-jährigen Alan Kurdi, dessen Foto seines leblosen Körpers am Strand als Symbol für die Flüchtlingskrise um die Welt ging, 10x mehr mitgenommen, als die ganze Erzählung von Nujeen.
Nujeen selbst wirkt im Buch nicht gerade wie ein Sympathieträger. Obwohl ihr Umfeld sich stets sehr um sie kümmert und dafür sorgt, dass die Flucht samt Rollstuhl gelingt, scheint Nujeen dafür wenig Dankbarkeit zu empfinden. Einige Szenen habe ich auch als befremdlich wahrgenommen, etwa als sie auf dem Schlauchboot Richtung Europa ist und herausschreit, wie viel Freude ihr der Wellengang macht, während ein Schlauchboot nach dem anderen um sie herum kentert...
Für mich wirkte Nujeen emotional sehr kühl. Statt seitenweise über ihre amerikanischen Lieblingsserien zu schreiben, die sie jahrelang geschaut hat, hätte ich gerne etwas mehr Einblick in ihre emotionale Welt bekommen - gerade wenn sie sich schon entscheidet, ihre Geschichte zu erzählen. Der jahrelange Krieg und die ständigen Gefahren auf der Flucht können einen doch nicht so kaltlassen und hätten bestimmt genügend Stoff geliefert, der Erzählung mehr emotionale Tiefe zu vergeben. Schade.
twhittie's review against another edition
5.0
An eye opening account of living in a war torn environment and taking the risk to leave. It made me want to be more open and kind to those who came from similar situations. In the end, we are all just people who want to live peaceful lives, side by side.
sophiebeth23's review against another edition
5.0
What an incredible journey to freedom it gives me hope in humanity hopefully one day there will be no wars.
bhagyadw's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
philrobichaud's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a great look at the "other side" of the migrant/refugee situation the world is currently in. I wish that everyone who says "go back where you came from" to these people would take the time to really understand their story.
I first saw Nujeen on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and thought, "I would love to hear her story"! Some critics have lamented the fact that the book is written in a very simple voice, however i feel that this makes it really more real, in the sense that it feels like Nujeen is really talking to us, not being paraphrased and re-worded so much by the co-author or editors. You have to remember that she's a teenager who never went to school as a child and lived her entire life almost in her family's apartment.
This book is also a great primer into the past events of this part of the world, too many people don't understand the nuances between the different countries, factions and backgrounds of all involved.
I first saw Nujeen on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and thought, "I would love to hear her story"! Some critics have lamented the fact that the book is written in a very simple voice, however i feel that this makes it really more real, in the sense that it feels like Nujeen is really talking to us, not being paraphrased and re-worded so much by the co-author or editors. You have to remember that she's a teenager who never went to school as a child and lived her entire life almost in her family's apartment.
This book is also a great primer into the past events of this part of the world, too many people don't understand the nuances between the different countries, factions and backgrounds of all involved.