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A review by saidtheraina
A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi
5.0
This book ticks all the boxes.
It was my slamdunk booktalk of the 2019 middle school tour.
Abawi tells the story of Tareq, a kid growing up in Syria, who is ripped out of his home. We follow Tareq from his home across several borders, including a journey across the Mediterranean Sea to the Island of Lesbos in an overcrowded boat.
There are also chapters of the story which introduce a much older relief worker, which felt a little less middle-school-friendly. Older teens and adults will definitely get a lot out of this book.
The story is told from the perspective of a personified Destiny (similar to the way Death narrates [b: The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1522157426s/19063.jpg|878368]). I'm gonna include a long blockquote here, because it's too long to reasonably include in the quotes on this site, but I want to read it as often as possible:
Personally, I also love the cover - and the middle schoolers responded to it too. When I do booktalks, I invite the kids to request any of the books off of the table for me to talk about (based solely on the covers), and I'm pretty sure I did this booktalk/this book was requested for every single presentation. I visited 5 schools, and talked to up to 6 groups of kids a day for up to 5 days at each school, so... I talked about this book a lot over the first few months of 2019.
My booktalk was a slight re-working of a check-point scene (starting on page 31), and I had one kid approach me after my presentation and say he was really into that book because he liked "military books." If you haven't looked at the cover up close, those are bullet casings in the foreground.
Personally, I consider this an ownvoices book, because the author is of middle eastern (Afghan) heritage, and was born a refugee in Europe. It's not exactly Tareq's story, but it's way closer than if I'd written it. Do you agree?
Gah. Rave. Gah.
It was my slamdunk booktalk of the 2019 middle school tour.
Abawi tells the story of Tareq, a kid growing up in Syria, who is ripped out of his home. We follow Tareq from his home across several borders, including a journey across the Mediterranean Sea to the Island of Lesbos in an overcrowded boat.
There are also chapters of the story which introduce a much older relief worker, which felt a little less middle-school-friendly. Older teens and adults will definitely get a lot out of this book.
The story is told from the perspective of a personified Destiny (similar to the way Death narrates [b: The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1522157426s/19063.jpg|878368]). I'm gonna include a long blockquote here, because it's too long to reasonably include in the quotes on this site, but I want to read it as often as possible:
The invisible lines in your world hold so much power.UGHHHH... So good.
Your eyes do not see them, but whether you live or die can depend on which side you stand on. The trajectory of your life is conditional.
On one side of the line, fighter jets rip through the sky, releasing cluster bombs, lighting up entire neighborhoods and painting the streets with the blood of limp corpses lying in the rubble. Hearts shudder with fear at every breath, in every minute of every day. Awake or asleep, you live with terror.
On the other side, the only danger from the sky is the storm that rolls in, shooting lightning through the clouds, or from the birds that flap their wings, dropping their lunch on an unsuspecting street merchant. Children go to school kicking rocks while filling the air with the music of their laughter. There are still problems, but your chances of survival outweigh a premature demise.
Your borders were devised by man. A rain cloud or even a bird does not recognize the barriers created by the human mind. Neither does a gazelle or an ant. The tremors on your planet didn’t cut up your land the way mankind has.
As desperate Syrians fled their homes and stepped over those artificial lines in search of light, they watched as others walked into the darkness, continuing to fuel the flames of disorder. Like in other war-torn countries, foreign elements destroyed their homes and their homeland even further.
There was initial relief when they first crossed those invisible lines. But the hardships did not end. Days turned to months, every moment a struggle filled with uncertainty. It included regret for leaving. And anguish for not departing sooner. There were days without food and months lacking proper shelter. Although it was a battle to survive in their new homes, I continued to see worse in the cities they’d left behind.
They are called the “lucky” ones. But in these situations, no one is truly lucky. Luck has abandoned them, sometimes never to return.
Personally, I also love the cover - and the middle schoolers responded to it too. When I do booktalks, I invite the kids to request any of the books off of the table for me to talk about (based solely on the covers), and I'm pretty sure I did this booktalk/this book was requested for every single presentation. I visited 5 schools, and talked to up to 6 groups of kids a day for up to 5 days at each school, so... I talked about this book a lot over the first few months of 2019.
My booktalk was a slight re-working of a check-point scene (starting on page 31), and I had one kid approach me after my presentation and say he was really into that book because he liked "military books." If you haven't looked at the cover up close, those are bullet casings in the foreground.
Personally, I consider this an ownvoices book, because the author is of middle eastern (Afghan) heritage, and was born a refugee in Europe. It's not exactly Tareq's story, but it's way closer than if I'd written it. Do you agree?
Gah. Rave. Gah.