Welcome to Litsy!

This was a great novel in verse. Poems are aligned left and right along with other spacing to highlight aspects of the story. It has wonderful literary references, figurative language, and football details. It‘s all wrapped up in the story of Kareem figuring out his own way as a Syrian American. It‘s set in 2016 & 2017 with the executive order banning international travel from Syria and other countries directly impacting Kareem‘s family.

This is the story a mother and her three daughters who move back home to Syria from NY after the death of their father/husband, told through the eyes of the 12 yo. It‘s 2011 and the Syrian Civil war is beginning. Unsafe in their hometown, they travel through several countries in search of safety, following the path of a heroine in a story they are familiar with. I loved that it‘s an immigration story not set in America with alternating storylines.

Recommended to me from a book group member, and now I need to tell them how deeply this book gutted me. I hadn‘t really understood what was happening in Syria, and now I have a story that really puts so much of it into perspective. Fantastic and difficult and oh so necessary.

A Syrian refugee with cerebral palsy who describes life before their civil war and life as a refugee making her way to Germany.

A harrowing tale for sure, although some of it seemed a little surface level or maybe like it was written for young readers.

#ReadtheWorld #Syria

I had high hopes due to its Syrian backdrop but it left me underwhelmed. Initially, I struggled to understand the narrative structure which made it less engaging and Nuri's passivity made it even harder to connect. Thankfully, it closes with a sense of peace and hope!

This was a moving, tragic and powerful memoir. Nearly every page is a gut punch. From a young age, Dr. Amani knew she wanted to break the norms and do something extraordinary with her life. She became educated in the medical field and immediately threw herself into the pain of others, believing she could make a difference. With bombs all around, continuous strikes, shrapnel, gunfire and collapsing buildings, she continued to show up and⬇️

I am not hopeless. I know that human beings are capable of changing history. I believe in the ability of people in democracies to change government policies and to help others elsewhere through humanitarian gestures if their governments won‘t. We can all do our part. My colleagues and I in The Cave never faltered or wondered, What difference can one person make? Every helping hand is precious. Individual efforts can snowball into ⬇️

#Bibliophile @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
#Heist

Not as good as the other spy novels I read last December, but the context makes it interesting and worth reading
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7578198400

#weekendreads
#shelfsweeper