Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed

21 reviews

joanna_banana's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

We saw this featured at KRL and I’ve enjoyed graphic novel memoirs and my daughter recognized the style from Roller Girl. I’m glad we picked it up! It is sweet and sad, really focusing on love, family, and faith in the face of the horrible violence and war that create refugees. I’m glad they decided to write it as a middle grade graphic novel, my daughter tore through it. So many important reminders and commentary tucked within the story. Would highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Grief, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny

Minor: Pregnancy, Animal death, and Suicide

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0

Title: When Stars Are Scattered
Author: Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed
Genre: Graphic Memoir
Rating: 5.00
Pub Date: April 14, 2020

T H R E E • W O R D S

Intimate • Heartbreaking • Compelling

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future . . . but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I was looking for moving graphic novel with depth and after doing a little research I managed to compile a short list of options. List in hand I made a trip to my local library and surprisingly they had a copy of When Stars Are Scattered on the shelf, which made my choice easy.

This graphic novel is based on Omar Mohamed and his brother's time spent in a refugee camp in Kenya. It details the day-to-day life of a child refugee through direct dialogue and thought and stunning artwork. Intended for younger readers, this is an important read for readers of all ages. While this is one single story out of millions of stories, it is brought to light in a sensitive manner without shying away from the difficult truths.

Overall, When Stars Are Scattered opened my eyes to everyday life in refugee camps. Omar story is one of resiliency and hope, while I know this isn't always the case. It is also a reminder life isn't all bad even in the most harsh of circumstances. For instance, Omar found hope through friendship, education, and responsibility.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers of all ages
• social studies teachers

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Be like a star. Shine your light. Shine your story. For stories will lead us home."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, Sexism, Xenophobia, War, Abandonment, Death, Bullying, Violence, Child death, Animal death, Chronic illness, and Suicide

Minor: Drug use, Pregnancy, Addiction, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

alexcooper88's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Suicide

parasihir's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

My heart breaks when I read this book. The part about stars really took my breath away and I would never see them the same ever again. When the Stars are Scattered is the best title for this book. Please read it to understand more about refugee's life, hope, education, and dreams. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Sexism, Pregnancy, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Suicide

waterviolite's review

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Pregnancy, Animal death, Death of parent, War, Violence, and Sexism

Minor: Suicide

readandfindout's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

4.5

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 4.5 stars
Art: 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Ableism, War, Animal death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Violence, Gun violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Grief

Minor: Suicide and Adult/minor relationship

pedantichumbug's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Animal death, War, and Ableism

Minor: Suicide and Adult/minor relationship

cathyrodgers's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

This nonfiction graphic novel/memoir follows the life of main character and author, Omar Mohamed.  Readers learn about the many years of waiting, hunger, loneliness, and fear he lives with daily in Dadaab , a refugee camp in Kenya.  Although the circumstances of Omar’s life are dire, the book ends on a hopeful note.  I loved When Stars Are Scattered and will be encouraging everyone I know to read it.  I highly recommend it to adults who, like me, are sensitive to many topics involving children. The book’s middle grade audience keeps the details age-appropriate - just the right level for me.  I recommend reading this book in print or with a reading app on an iPad or tablet. Ereaders, such as Kindle,  with black and white format will miss out on the wonderful colors of this graphic novel.   Parents/teachers:  check the content warnings for age appropriateness for your reader(s).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide

Children separated from mother by civil war.

krys_kilz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.5

This was a moving graphic novel and memoir. The artwork and coloring really complimented the storytelling.

In my opinion, it veered a little towards inspiration porn, which is common with stories about disabled folks as well as with refugee experiences written for a western audience. I don't want to judge too harshly though because from the author's note at the end it seems like it was a collaborative writing process and that Omar was satisfied with how his story was told.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Ableism

Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Suicide, and Animal death

animaepanda's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Medical content, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Sexism, and War

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Suicide