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A review by theladydoor
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
5.0
I loved Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan, so when the little girl I nanny insisted I read this book, I readily agreed, and read it in the course of two hours. This is a wonderful book of free verse poetry, and I have to admit I cried through quite a few of the lovely poems.
The main character's name is Kek, and he is a Lost Boy of Sudan. After his village was destroyed by soldiers and his father and brother killed, Kek and his mother fled to a refugee camp. When the camp in turn was attaked, Kek ran, forced to leave his mother behind. The book opens with Kek landing in Minnesota, to live with his aunt and cousin. At first, Kek is afraid and uncertain; he doesn't understand what he sees around him in American, he encounters snow for the first time. But he tries to be a good boy and not a burden on his aunt. While he makes mistakes along the way, he soon makes friends and even gets a job, caring for a lonely cow on a rundown farm. Throughout, he never gives up hope that his mother is alive.
I felt keenly for Kek and his family the whole time I was reading. Though Applegate herself has not experienced what Kek has, I believe she truly grasped the emotions of what these Lost Boys experience. Her writing is clear and lovely, and she clearly cares for and empathizes with all of her characters.
The main character's name is Kek, and he is a Lost Boy of Sudan. After his village was destroyed by soldiers and his father and brother killed, Kek and his mother fled to a refugee camp. When the camp in turn was attaked, Kek ran, forced to leave his mother behind. The book opens with Kek landing in Minnesota, to live with his aunt and cousin. At first, Kek is afraid and uncertain; he doesn't understand what he sees around him in American, he encounters snow for the first time. But he tries to be a good boy and not a burden on his aunt. While he makes mistakes along the way, he soon makes friends and even gets a job, caring for a lonely cow on a rundown farm. Throughout, he never gives up hope that his mother is alive.
I felt keenly for Kek and his family the whole time I was reading. Though Applegate herself has not experienced what Kek has, I believe she truly grasped the emotions of what these Lost Boys experience. Her writing is clear and lovely, and she clearly cares for and empathizes with all of her characters.