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Summary
Summary
Tareq lives in Syria with his warm and loving family, until the bombs strike. He, his father, and his younger sister are the only survivors, and they have no choice but to go to Raqqa, where they have extended family. But Raqqa is a stronghold for Daesh, the militant group claiming to follow the tennets of Islam, yet who really exist only to enable violence and intolerance. Tareq's family leave quickly, and Tareq heads to Istanbul with his cousin. From there, reunited with his younger sister, they flee successfully to Greece.
This is a story of resilience in the face of darkness, and of one boy's courage in desperate circumstances. But it is also the story of all wars, of all tragedy, and of all strife. With Destiny as a narrator offering perspective and context, readers see that this conflict in Syria is part of a long chain of wars throughout time -- and that, throughout all of those wars, there have also been heroes, small and large, who prove that humanity is ultimately inclined toward good.
Author Notes
Atia Abawi is a foreign news correspondent who was stationed for almost five years in Kabul, Afghanistan. She was born to Afghan parents in West Germany and was raised in the United States. Her first book for teens was the powerful Secret Sky , about forbidden romance between different ethnic tribes. She currently lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Conor Powell, and their son, Arian, where she covers stories unfolding in the middle east and the surrounding areas. You can follow her on Twitter @AtiaAbawi.
Reviews (7)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this gripping and heartrending novel, Abawi (The Secret Sky) follows a family of Syrian refugees, whose lives are changed when one of the feared "bombs that fell indiscriminately from the sky" destroys their apartment building. Teenage Tareq, his father, and his four-year-old sister, Susan, survive, but his mother, grandmother, and three other siblings die in the blast. All three flee the country, joining the endless stream of refugees desperately seeking safety. Destiny itself serves as an omniscient narrator, a device that helps to buffer readers from the relentless terror, hunger, and danger plaguing Tareq's family: "To me, you are all from the same world. You have the same hearts, needs, wants and desires." As the family journeys through Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Macedonia on their way to Germany, its configuration varies, most poignantly when Fayed pays smugglers to take his children in a perilously overcrowded boat bound for Greece. Newfound friendships and stories of volunteers pulling refugees from the Aegean provide elements of hope in this upsetting yet beautifully rendered portrayal of an ongoing humanitarian crisis. Ages 12-up. Agent: Stephen Barbara, Inkwell Management. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
When a bomb destroys Tareq's home in Syria, killing most of his family, he flees to Turkey, and then across the Aegean Sea in a dingy to Greece. The harrowing, emotionally moving story is chock-full of sensory details, Arabic phrases, and realistic dialogue. Often-clever omniscient narration by "Destiny" itself presents readers with the perspectives of Syrian refugees and aid workers, as well as with the larger historical context of displacement. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Tareq can remember Syria, before the war, before the air strikes, before all of the bombed-out buildings. He misses daily life, how his father would sell food at the market while Tareq helped take care of his siblings. After a bomb drops from the sky and decimates Tareq's family, he begins a sorrowful journey as a refugee, passing through a landscape that is ever changing with other people who are abandoning their homes, whether by choice or fate. This touching read will stir empathy and compassion about the harrowing plight of refugees. Abawi paints a vivid picture of how much control one does not have of her or his own life, especially when up against an entire country's viscous uprising, and helps give perspective on how religion can be used to help create a world where the most basic human rights are violated. Most important, this book illustrates the hardships refugees face in staying connected to the people they love when they are always having to say goodbye.--Bratt, Jessica Anne Copyright 2018 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
NOW, MORE THAN anytime in recent history, we're hearing the triumphant roar of women of color as they break down longstanding barriers in art, film and literature. In young adult literature in particular, inventive, international stories told in newly empowered women's voices are claiming their rightful place at the table. Take these five new Y.A. books, ranging from fantasy to realistic fiction to memoir. In these authors' hands, non-Western sensibilities might reign in a vivid and original Yoruban religion-based world, or classical settings might be reinterpreted to create a universe in which beauty is not tied to race. A heartbreaking fictional front row seat to the Syrian refugee emergency is offset by a humorous true tale of growing up an Iranian-American immigrant without a green card. And a very modern romance proves that, despite divides both cultural and digital, love still wins. So do YA. readers, when it comes to seeing exhilaratingly new kinds of characters sharing space. In Dhonielle Clayton's lavish fantasy the BELLES (FREEFORM, $17.99; AGES 14 TO 17), a thing of beauty is only temporary. The decadent island society of Orleans is home to a select group of sisters born with the disconcerting ability to perform plastic surgery without the plastic. As "descendants of the goddess of beauty," the Belles have a fuzzily explained magical "arcana" in their blood that allows them to temporarily change the physical appearance of the native Gris, who are cursed with gray skin and red eyes. After a childhood of training, the teenage Belles are introduced to upper-class society and tasked with transforming the hair, skin and bone structure of the race-fluid rich and royal. But when the rebellious Belle Camellia uncovers a plot by the truly vile Princess Sophia to enslave her and her sisters, she sows the seeds of a grass-roots revolution that is bound to blossom more fully in the inevitable sequel. Clayton, a co-founder of the We Need Diverse Books organization, has created an opulent mash-up setting, which seems to be a cherry-picked combination of 18thcentury France, Japan and the antebellum American South. If it never quite coalesces into a seamless cultural whole, readers seduced by the page-turning palace intrigue and the vivid food and clothing descriptions won't notice or care. Magic also lies dormant in the platelets of chosen teenagers in the Nigerian-American Tomi Adeyemi's debut, children of BLOOD AND BONE (HOLT, $18.99; AGES 12 AND UP). But these diviners are no debutantes. Born with snow white hair and deep brown skin in the imaginary country of Orisha, young diviners morph into mighty, magicwielding maji, or magicians, at 13. For centuries they relied on their powers (which Adeyemi based on aspects of the religion of the Yoruban people of West Africa). All that ended when the nonmagical King Saran ordered the slaughter of all adult majis. But when a mysterious scroll falls into the hands of Amari, a defiant princess, and Zélie, a tenacious diviner warrior, the two young women set out on a thrilling, deathdefying journey to restore magic and take back the throne. Black Girl Magic, indeed! ft's no surprise that this epic trilogy opener has already been optioned for film. Full of cinematic action sequences (the most memorable of them set almost entirely underwater and employing an army of the dead) and creatures worthy of Star Wars (horsesize "lionaires" have saber teeth and horns), it storms the boundaries of the imagination. Yet it also confronts the conscience. Adeyemi's brutally depicted war between the noble, lighter-skinned kosidans and the enslaved, darker-skinned majis poses thought-provoking questions about race, class and authority that hold up a warning mirror to our sharply divided society. Atia Abawi mixes a fantasy element with extreme realism in her second novel, A LAND OF PERMANENT GOODBYES (PHILOMEL, $17.99; ages 13 and up). Tareq is a Syrian refugee whose perilous journey is narrated by the voice of Destiny, characterized as a kindly, prosaic entity. After Tareq's mother, grandmother and four of his siblings are killed by a bomb, he and his father flee to Türkey with his remaining sister, Susan. They hopscotch from Türkey to Greece, Serbia, Slovenia, Austria and finally to Germany, where he finds a fragile safety. Along the way he witnesses beheadings and drownings, but also experiences the kindness of aid workers like Alexia, an American student. Abawi, a foreign news correspondent, does an admirable job of showing the grim horror of refugee life. But her efforts are occasionally undermined by cartoonish villains ("You tink you will be saved? Who will save you? Captain America is not real, just movies") and by some of Destiny's well-meaning but obvious platitudes: "When you truly love someone, their life means more to you than your own." These interruptions may pull readers out of the story, though perhaps that distance is necessary for adolescents trying to process something as bleak and overwhelming as the Syrian refugee crisis. Of course, once refugees finally arrive in their adopted country, new problems arise. Until she was 13, Sara Saedi, an franianAmerican television writer and the author of the memoir Americanized: rebel without A GREEN CARD (RANDOM HOUSE, $17.99, ages 12 and up), was cheerfully oblivious of her family's immigration status. After her older sister breaks the news that they are "illegal," Saedi suffers through the usual teenage rites of passage at her Silicon Valley high school (unibrow management, pimple wars, pot smoking) with the added pressure of possible deportation hanging over her head. Saedi adroitly and humorously uses these universal pubescent ordeals to contextualize Iranian culture and the immigrant experience. A memory of being teased about her eyebrow in ninth grade expands into a discussion of beauty norms: When her mother praises her for being hairless, "she meant by Persian woman standards. 1 was still hairy by everyone else's standards." And she has the sobering realization that pot is a privilege American teenagers can enjoy, but not undocumented kids: "ff 1 got caught, I'd have a criminal record that could be grounds for deportation." Very funny but never flippant, Saedi mixes '90s pop culture references, adolescent angst and Iranian history into an intimate, informative narrative that thoroughly defies current divisive views on immigration. Mary H.K. Choi's blushingly tender and piquant debut novel, emergency contact (SIMON & SCHUSTER, $17.99; AGES 14 AND UP), about two isolated, misfit college students from Austin who fall in love via text message explores our emotional rather than geographical divides. In "Emergency Contact," a Korean-American would-be writer named Penny keeps everyone at a distance, the result of living with a single, oversharing mom she calls "the equivalent of... human glitter." But when she rescues Sam, a half-German, half-Polish student filmmaker, from the sidewalk during a panic attack, she becomes his "emergency contact," and he hers. Their charged, initial banter on text soon develops into increasingly personal exchanges about art, death, unstable moms and pregnant ex-girlfriends. Yet their burgeoning bond keeps stalling out. Burned by past relationships and millennial-ly tethered to their devices, they struggle to connect romantically IRL. Sam "couldn't imagine the space Penny would take up in his life if she sprang out of his phone," and Penny admits "Sam was her phone and her phone was Sam." Choi, a culture correspondent for HBO's Vice News, inserts timely issues like sexual assault, cultural appropriation and even DACA into her characters' intimate conversations, but it is her examination of digital vs. F2F communication that feels the most immediate. Has digital communication become so ubiquitous, and interpersonal contact so arduous, that we'd rather type than talk? Thankfully, no. Penny and Sam put down their phones long enough to make out, proving that touch trumps text, and hormones still conquer all. jennifer HUBERT swan is the director of library services at the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School. She blogs at Reading Rants.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Told from the point of view of Destiny, this novel focuses on one Syrian family tragically affected by a senseless and brutal war. Tareq, the eldest son, along with his father and young sister, are the only members of their immediate family still alive after their village is bombed. The only practical means of survival is to flee their homeland for Turkey, Greece, and ultimately, Germany, to evade persecution and probable (if not inevitable) death. Abawi presents a gripping, heartbreaking story about the refugee crisis in Syria, and how all wars cruelly impact people, society, and nations. The author does not shy away from many of the barbaric acts of terrorism perpetrated against the anti-establishment Muslim citizens: beheadings followed by vacant-eyed human heads posted on metal spikes to terrorize nonbelievers into compliance. She contrasts this poignantly, memorably, and poetically with the endearing way she describes Tareq and his loving family. Several other characters are introduced. Alexia, an American on vacation in Greece, decides to stay in the country to help. Her story is an integral one as it merges with Tareq's arrival, though the thread ends somewhat abruptly. Overall, Abawi skillfully places humanity enmeshed in war into two sides: the "hunters" who feed on the suffering and the "helpers" who lend a hand. VERDICT An inspiring, timely, and must-have account about the Syrian refugee disaster and the perils of all wars; best supplemented with nonfiction information for research purposes.-Etta Anton, Yeshiva of Central Queens, NY © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
From award-winning journalist Abawi (The Secret Sky, 2014) comes an unforgettable novel that brings readers face to face with the global refugee crisis.Tareq, a young Syrian teenager, changes his daily routine as airstrikes on his city increase. When his home is hit by a bomb that kills most of his family in one day, Tareq is suddenly a refugee, traveling with his father and one surviving younger sister, Susan, to another Syrian town, then out of Syria to Turkey. When life in Turkey offers little hope, Tareq's father sends him and Susan to make the treacherous trip to Greece by water. Through incredible dangers and suffering, they meet refugees and aid workers from across the globe. Abawi integrates just enough background information into the plot to make the story and characters comprehensible. The narrator is Destiny, whose authoritative voice suits the tragic and dramatic turns of plot. The narrator's philosophical asides allow readers just enough distance to balance the intimacy of the suffering witnessed along the journey while helping to place the Syrian crisis in global and historical context as part of the cycle of humanity. The direct address challenges readers in a way that is heavy-handed only at the end, but even so it is chillingly effective. A heartbreaking, haunting, and necessary story that offers hope while laying bare the bleakness of the world Tareq leaves and the new one he seeks to join. (Fiction. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
The Syrian refugee crisis is brought to the forefront in this compelling fictional story of a teenage Syrian boy's dangerous journey to freedom. As Tareq travels from Syria to Turkey to Greece to Germany, listeners are drawn into the harsh realities of family separations, deaths, stark living conditions, and everyday tragedies. Leila Buck narrates and chronicles the agonizing journey as the voice of Destiny. While the sometimes-preachy Destiny is read in a mostly detached voice, Buck puts feeling and emotions into the characters. An exciting sequence with Tareq and two volunteer aid workers searching for Tarek's kidnapped little sister will have listeners riveted, thanks to Buck's performance. Libraries in need of audiobooks that bring the refugee situation to life will be interested in this thought-provoking and serious rendition. VERDICT Give this to listeners who can handle the delicate balance of refugees' heartbreaking suffering with hopes of a better life.-Julie Paladino, Chapel Hill, NC © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Hours passed at the site of their bombed-out apartment building. Most of the survivors could do nothing but watch and weep as the corpses were lined up on the ground--bodies that included Tareq's grandmother and mother. The moon shone bright as he lay between his mama and tehta. Holding their lifeless hands, Tareq tried breathing in his mother's scent one last time, but all he could smell was smoke and dust. He squeezed her palm, ignoring the sirens that engulfed his neighborhood. Although limp, it was still the same hand that he had held as a timid child when stepping into crowded souks in search of spices and clothes. He stroked the elegant fingers that had caressed him gently, making him feel warm and safe. "I will be okay, Mama, please don't worry. I will take care of my little brothers and sisters just like you took care of us." He looked at her closed eyes with those perfectly arched brows and took in her beauty. Even dead, his mother looked peaceful and gracious. Tareq brought her delicate hand to his mouth, pressing it to his lips ever so gently. A kiss goodbye. A finality he didn't want to accept; no child ever does, no matter their age. When he looked up, he was brought back into the current chaos, listening to the sounds of wails and the sirens. The man in the white helmet wasn't alone: There were many wearing the same uniform--they all had the same tan vests and tired eyes. Some helmets were brighter, others stained with the gloom of war, a thick layer of death and broken souls. Tareq spotted the man who had pulled him out--Ahmed--marching forward, carrying something. His headlamp beamed in front of him, making it hard to see what was in his arms. It was when he got closer that Tareq recognized the long dark brown hair bouncing with Ahmed's every step. "I'm sorry, habibi." He handed Farrah's wilted body over to her big brother, who rocked the young girl in his arms as he kissed her round cheek. The tears falling from his face cleaned the dust from hers. "I found her in the room next to where I found you." Ahmed quickly turned and walked away, unable to take the grief. Excerpted from A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
