Genre: Middle Grade, Biography
Source: I purchased a copy. The opinions expressed
here are my own.
This is the second graphic novel I
have read that has greatly touched me. Omar and his brother Hassan are victims
of the civil war in their country of Somalia. Omar witnesses his father's
death. He runs to tell his mother. She thrusts Hassan into his arms and tells
him to run. He joins thousands of others running from soldiers. He and his
brother end up in a refuge camp in Kenya. Fatuma is their legal guardian, since
they have no adults. This story tells of
his life in the refugee camp. The struggles of raising a younger brother who
can't speak and has medical issues. It tells of his dream of going to school
and making a better life. It tells of the dreams of everyone in the camp,
dreaming of leaving the camps one day.
This is not an easy book to read. One of my students told me I HAD to
read it. Before I could check it in and take it home another kids said, "I
want to read it." So, I did what every good teacher would do, who wants to
make readers of their students, I checked it out to him. I purchased my own
copy to read this weekend. I am glad I did. We who live here in the land of the
free have no right to complain when we read books like this. Our lives are so
easy compared to the many refugees in camps all over the world. This is a definite must read.
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