"A vivid portrayal of an ordinary Syrian family whose lives are shattered by war. Highly topical empathetic account will have a profound impact upon readers."
This is an excellent book for young people who want to know what is happening in Syria and why – serious, thoughtful, sympathetic to the ordinary people caught up in the war; in a highly readable story it gives a real insight into their lives, and how quickly they have changed from something very similar to our own, to something incomprehensible.
Readers meet Laird’s fictional Syrian family at the beginning of the civil war when life is good, particularly for her central character Omar, a young boy already dreaming of running his own business. But as protests against the government spiral into war, the family are forced from their house, then their country. Omar stays upbeat, even in their refugee camp where hope is in very short supply, a lively, reassuring narrator.
Unlike his older brother, he’s not interested in the protests, just wants things to be back the way they were; though the book ends with Omar, his mother and sisters escaping the refugee camp, we know that their lives have changed forever.
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I am from Afghanistan so this book relates to my country a lot.
This is an excellent book for young people who want to know what is happening in Syria. This is a serious, thoughtful, and sympathetic book. In a thrilling readable story, it gives a real insight into their lives, and how quickly they have changed from living in an adequate city to a horrendous place to live in. This fictional Syrian family starts its struggle when they move to daara. At the beginning of the civil war when life is good, particularly for the central character Omar, a young boy already dreaming of running his own business. But as protests against the government create war, the family are forced from their house, then their country. Omar stays upbeat, even in their refugee camp where hope is in very short supply.... Read Full Review
