Reviews

Boy, Everywhere by A.M. Dassu

Only show reviews with written explanations

laffi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

"Boy, Everywhere" is an interesting story about a young boy from Damascus, who has to leave Syria with his family due to the civil war. The first part of the book is about

them travelling from Syria to England

, the second part is about

them settling there

. Everything is written from the perspective of 13 year old Sami, including descriptions of the journey and his thoughts about it.

For me the book was a perfect introduction to books about the war in Syria on the one hand and an emotional and heartwarming story on the other hand.

What I didn't quite get were some of the character's actions/motives. For example

how racist the majority of kids at the 'multi-ethnic' school were

how Samis parents often seemed to lack empathy for him in comparison to his sister. He is still a child, and they blame him for asking questions, making friends and acting human

.

Aside from that, I had a good time reading and can recommend the book to anyone interested in Syria or looking for an heartwarming story about a family escaping war.

Content Warnings

aishareadsalot's review

Go to review page

4.0

My heart hurts just thinking about how this book is not just fiction for so many people

rebeccas97's review

Go to review page

5.0

Completely & utterly brilliant. Genuinely One of the best books I’ve read in a long while

izzyxrose's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

gmhmeredith's review

Go to review page

challenging dark hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This would be a bit young for me personally, I'm definitely not the target audience. However I did enjoy reading this with the students, I think it tackles such an important topic with a lot of heart in a way that is accessible for the she group it's aimed at.