Reviewed by Lidwien Kapteijns
Book Source: African Access
Book Author: Victoria JamiesonOmar Mohamed
This graphic novel for 9-12 year-old readers is a real masterpiece. It is based on the life of a Somali boy called Omar, who had to flee his rural village in Somalia in 1991 when he was four, and, together with his mentally challenged younger brother Hassan, ended up in the Dadaab refugee camp in Northeast Kenya. The book charts Omar’s journey from his arrival in Dadaab — “For me, the first years are lost” — to his (and Hassan’s) resettlement in the U.S. at age 18. Too many books on African refugee children are what this reality-based novel manages to avoid, for it is not a sob story that allows young North American readers to see such refugees as hapless victims for whom one can only feel benevolent but inevitably also condescending pity. Instead, the authors succeed in bringing both the real hardships of refugee camp life and the complex and dynamic emotions, friendships, and circumstances of the two boys to life on the page.
As for Dadaab realities, the book brings into focus the boredom and exhaustion that come with the inevitable and endless waiting — waiting in line for rations and water; waiting for the “empty days” (the last days before the UN distributes new food) to pass; waiting for a mother they are not sure is alive to come and find them; and waiting for months and years for their request for resettlement to work its way through U.N. and U.S. bureaucracies. Apart from food, Omar lacks a school uniform and schoolbooks, a ball (instead of compressed plastic bags) for playing soccer, a lamp to study by, or a TV to watch. Omar also experiences the meanness of bullies, the bitter and sneering anger of the father of Omar’s best friend Jeri, feelings of jealousy of families who somehow get approved for resettlement abroad, Hassan’s sadness about their baby goat that dies because they have no food for it, and moments of hopelessness. Continue reading on Africa Access.
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria JamiesonOmar Mohamed
Published by Penguin on April 14, 2020
Genres: Africa, Education, Graphic Novels and Comics, Banned Books
Pages: 264
Reading Level: Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
ISBN: 9780525553908
Review Source: Africa Access
Publisher's Synopsis: A National Book Award Finalist, this remarkable graphic novel is about growing up in a refugee camp, as told by a former Somali refugee to the Newbery Honor-winning creator of Roller Girl.
Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future . . . but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day.
Heartbreak, hope, and gentle humor exist together in this graphic novel about a childhood spent waiting, and a young man who is able to create a sense of family and home in the most difficult of settings. It's an intimate, important, unforgettable look at the day-to-day life of a refugee, as told to New York Times Bestselling author/artist Victoria Jamieson by Omar Mohamed, the Somali man who lived the story.
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