A review by bmwpalmer
Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai

4.0

A bit over earnest, but endearingly so. This book overcomes a common hurdle of Kid Going Through Hardship in Foreign Land stories, in that it successfully shows how such kids are really just like you. You! The kid (or person) reading this book! Really. There is a lot of detail about Aleppo and Syria in this book and while at times it was a little heavy-handed, it really brings the story to life. At first, I worried the story would be too ham-fistedly anti-Assad (I mean, he IS the bad guy, but it's complicated, but it's also a children's book, so how deep do you go, etc.), but in the end there was more nuance represented in the supporting characters. I think a kid could read this book and understand how war is more gray than black and white, especially for families just trying to survive.

There is a pretty cool Ayman Mohyeldin cameo in this book, by the way!