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Summary
Summary
A masterful story about the power of hope
Rami is in a small dinghy filled with strangers, all of them refugees seeking a safe harbor. But with no motor, no oars, and a rising tide, their situation looks bleak. So Rami pulls out the only thing he brought with him--a violin--and begins to tell his fellow refugees a story through his music. And his story, about an indomitable white stallion and its struggle for freedom, gives them all the strength to remember the past and hope for the future.
A Story Like the Wind is a beautifully illustrated fable that shows how music and stories can bring people together. Readers of all ages will be entranced by this sweeping story that feels both new and timeless.
Author Notes
Gill Lewis spent much of her childhood in the garden where she ran a small zoo and a veterinary hospital for creepy-crawlies, mice, and birds. When she grew up she became a real vet and travelled from the Arctic to Africa in search of interesting animals and places. Gill now writes books forchildren. Her previous novels, Sky Hawk, White Dolphin, and Moon Bear published to worldwide critical acclaim and have been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives in the depths of Somerset with her husband and three children.
In 2015 she won the Little Rebels Children¿s Book Award for radical children¿s fiction for her book Scarlet Ibis.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-Drifting in the frigid waters of the Mediterranean, 14-year-old Rami is floating with other Middle Eastern refugees, clinging to a small dinghy with nothing but a violin case. When the others share their names and their meager food supplies, Rami says he is neither cold nor hungry, because he has nothing to share in return. Rami's fellow passengers urge him to share his violin to distract them from their horrible plight and memories of war, loved ones dying, and their narrow escapes. Rami stories unfurl with the melodious offerings from his beloved violin as he weaves the music with tales of oppression, escape, and freedom. Amidst hauntingly beautiful blue-toned drawings, Rami and his violin tell the tale of a young Mongolian shepherd who finds an orphaned white stallion and nurses it back to health. The stallion is beautiful but strong-willed and free-spirited, and it soon attracts the attention of the Dark Lord who rules the land. Unable to tame the stallion, the Dark Lord is intent on breaking its spirit, but, like the wind, the stallion cannot be contained. The story resonates with each passenger; Nor and Mustafa remember the story of how they met and their son's birth, while others think of life before wartime, and each is reminded that freedom is within them and cannot be taken away, giving them strength to endure their current hardships. VERDICT A deeply powerful and timely narrative that will evoke conversation and thoughtfulness regarding the plight of refugees, ensuring readers see those affected as survivors.-Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
This slim, profusely illustrated book (first published in the UK) introduces a small group of Middle Eastern refugees adrift at sea in a small broken-down boat. Rami, a young man clutching a violin case, plays his instrument and shares a legend about its creation. Weaver's haunting art in a monochromatic palette of greenish-black perfectly complements the sad yet sometimes hopeful tale. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
On a boat drifting in the cold waters of the Mediterranean, dozens of Middle-Eastern refugees, young and old, cling to one another, waiting for the uncertainty that haunts their future to be put to rest. In the bitter night, young Rami takes out his fiddle and begins to play, narrating an accompanying story that drifts through the boat, wrapping frigid bodies with the comfort of hope, faith, and freedom. Rami's fiddle tells of a young Mongolian shepherd who nurses back to health an abandoned foal. The foal becomes a white stallion rare in its beauty, might, and free soul. But as with all free and beautiful things, the white stallion soon captures the attention of the Dark Lord who rules the land, who forbids any freedom that he cannot control. As Rami plays, his fellow passengers reminisce. Nor and Mustafa remember when they met and the miracle birth of Bashar, their 6-year-old son, who is with them on the boat. Mohammad thinks of his wife, who is no longer with him; Youssef and Hassan remember their carefree childhoods, before the soldiers came. Rami's story stands as a reminder to the passengers that freedom cannot be taken from them because it exists all around them in the wind. Measured, lyrical prose is matched by Weaver's evocative, blue-toned illustrations, which depict sadness and fear, beauty and strength.Lewis' novella brings to life the unified power of hope and faith and freedom that keeps strong all those fleeing war, massacre, and hardship. (Fiction. 7-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
