Month: February 2019

The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees

/ Sara Gentry

The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown is an excellent book for teens who want to know more about the refugee plight. Brown uses the graphic novel format to provide historical context and address current issues involving Syria and its people.

The book opens with a brief history of how the political situation escalated in Syria, which led to the outpouring of refugees. After setting the scene, Brown then follows various refugees trying to escape the war-torn country. We follow them on foot to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and we follow them on sea, across the Mediterranean into Greece and other European nations. We see the whole spectrum of young and old, male and female.

Brown does justice to his subjects by not avoiding difficult material. We’re faced with cold facts: some will not survive. They will die from starvation, exposure, and drowning. Although a graphic novel, Unwanted is not explicitly graphic, though scary scenes certainly are depicted in the illustrations. Due to this difficult content, I recommend The Unwanted for ages twelve and up. I believe it would be a compelling read to build empathy and compassion for those enduring this nightmare.

Rivers: A Visual History from River to Sea

/ Sara Gentry

“Geography” and “amazing” may not be two words commonly used in the same sentence when talking about books for young people, so let’s change that. River: A Visual History from River to Sea by Peter Goes is indeed an amazing book of geography for young readers. And old readers. Everything about this book, from the oversize pages and format to the detailed illustrations surrounded by interesting facts, says, “Read me! … Read me again!”

As one would deduce from the title, Goes uses the rivers of the world to relate geographical, historical, cultural and even biological information. Rivers are grouped together by continent, and then each major river has its own two-page spread. Each spread has a solid color background with Goes intricate black-and-white illustrations on top. Readers are given a wealth of information that all pertains to the river. For instance, on the spread for the Thames, we learn the river once was also called Isis, the Thames tunnel was built between 1825 and 1843, the kingfisher likes to live near running water, and the Thames Barrier protects London from high tides. And that’s just a small sample of interesting tidbits.

Rivers has a way of making non-fiction readily accessible to a younger audience, but it is so engaging and sophisticated that it in no way seems juvenile. I suspect teens would pore over these pages. I highly recommend this book for all ages, though I suspect ages eight and up will enjoy it most. Goes also authored the book Timeline, which I’ve not yet had the pleasure to read, but can’t wait to get my hands on if it’s as good as Rivers.

Louisiana’s Way Home

/ Sara Gentry

I am convinced that Kate DiCamillo is a writing genius. DiCamillo tackles weighty topics while using half the words that others would use, and her word choice is deceptively simple. Her characters are well formed and memorable, and they weave together in beautiful storytelling.

Louisiana’s Way Home is DiCamillo’s first novel sequel, and it follows Louisiana Elefante, who we first met in Raymie Nightingale. The book starts with Louisiana embarking on a traveling adventure with her grandmother. Not long after they drive across the Florida-Georgia border, the grandmother has a dental emergency, requiring an unexpected stop in a small Georgia town. Things quickly unravel from there, and Louisiana must confront her past and determine who she wants to be going forward.

The book deals with heavy themes of loss, abandonment, and forgiveness, but DiCamillo frames them in a hopeful light. While the reading level isn’t too advanced, the emotional content may be too intense for sensitive readers. As such, I recommend this book for ages 10 and older.