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's 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, his only family member remaining, 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 and went on to help so many other refugees. -- From dust jacket.
Note
"This book is a work of fiction based on true events. It reflects the author's present recollections of experiences over time. Some names and characteristics have been changed or invented, some events have been compressed, and dialogue has been re-created"--Title page verso.
Audience
Ages: 9-12. Grades: 4-7. Lexile: GN530L.
Awards
2022 Sequoyah Intermediate Award 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature 2020 Jane Addams Children's Book Award 2021 Schneider Family Book Award Walter Dean Myers Award for Youger Reader Winner, 2021
