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A review by melirose1998
Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This middle-grad novel in verse was refreshing, moving, and informative. It pulled on my heartstrings in just the right ways. Jasmine Warga did a beautiful job weaving a story together that reflected what a young Muslim girl might go through coming to the United States. Experiences of Islamophobia, violence, and displacement are expressed in this novel in verse. There were profound moments in this novel where Warga used imagery and metaphor to evoke emotion and connection from the reader. I kept the following quotes:
“America, I realize, // has its sad and tired // parts too. // America, // like every other place in the world, // is a place where some people sleep // and some people // other people // dream.”
“I wonder if it is exhausting // to be a tree. // To lose something, // year after year, // only to trust that it will // someday grow back.”
“Hoping, // I’m starting to think, // might be the bravest thing a person can do.”
“Sometimes i feel like you have to say things out loud // just to remind the universe // that you’re still thinking about them.”
“‘Too much sunshine makes a desert.’ // I wonder, though, // if it is possible for there // to be too much rain. // I am starting to feel like // I am drowning, // like I don’t know how much longer // I can stay afloat.
“America, I realize, // has its sad and tired // parts too. // America, // like every other place in the world, // is a place where some people sleep // and some people // other people // dream.”
“I wonder if it is exhausting // to be a tree. // To lose something, // year after year, // only to trust that it will // someday grow back.”
“Hoping, // I’m starting to think, // might be the bravest thing a person can do.”
“Sometimes i feel like you have to say things out loud // just to remind the universe // that you’re still thinking about them.”
“‘Too much sunshine makes a desert.’ // I wonder, though, // if it is possible for there // to be too much rain. // I am starting to feel like // I am drowning, // like I don’t know how much longer // I can stay afloat.