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tomikorobson's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
jenniferstringer's review against another edition
3.0
The 2019 Big Read choice- a boy’s first person account of life as a refugee. Kids should not live this way. No one should. Just one of the millions of people in these circumstances. Kudos to his Canadian teachers who helped him heal with this cathartic writing assignment.
jana463's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
selinayoung's review against another edition
3.0
Important to read about places and experiences we don’t know about. That’s what this book was for me. Beautiful family who moved me to be better at embracing laughter and joy and family and community.
aimeesbookishlife's review against another edition
4.0
A short but moving true story told by a refugee to his English teacher (who wrote it for him and added in some background details - there is an afterword which explains the process they used; a mixture of Google Translate, YouTube videos and charades).
The style is simplistic, making it a less challenging read than the subject matter might suggest, and the narrative voice contains a lot of humour. I loved the glimpses of Abu Bakr's "normal" life in amongst the descriptions of bombs and soldiers - playing video games with his cousins and sending WhatsApp messages to his friends - which brought home the fact that he was just a pre-teen boy like so many others.
The book limits itself to telling story of the al Rabeeah family and doesn't go into detail about the causes of the conflict. Its narrow focus allows the reader to get to know the family intimately and to feel their fears and heartaches vividly, but if you're looking for a book that explores the complex geo-political aspects of the refugee crisis then this might not be the book for you.
The style is simplistic, making it a less challenging read than the subject matter might suggest, and the narrative voice contains a lot of humour. I loved the glimpses of Abu Bakr's "normal" life in amongst the descriptions of bombs and soldiers - playing video games with his cousins and sending WhatsApp messages to his friends - which brought home the fact that he was just a pre-teen boy like so many others.
The book limits itself to telling story of the al Rabeeah family and doesn't go into detail about the causes of the conflict. Its narrow focus allows the reader to get to know the family intimately and to feel their fears and heartaches vividly, but if you're looking for a book that explores the complex geo-political aspects of the refugee crisis then this might not be the book for you.
arshias's review against another edition
5.0
This was the DC library’s big read pick, and what a great choice! Quick to get through but so impactful. It isn’t flush with macro-details of the Syrian Civil War (which I would now like to read more about if anyone has a good rec), and rightly so. Instead, Abu Bakr reflects on the conflict’s everyday realities and effects on the ground, on regular people living in extraordinary and horrific circumstances.
ncrozier's review against another edition
4.0
How do you maintain a 'normal' life in the face of a civil war? How do you come to a new country, with a new language, and start over? This story is so important.