Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

In Aleppo City, in 2013, young Amina's life is changed forever when a bomb destroys her neighborhood and her family joins the millions of refugees fleeing Syria. In this graphic novel, Amina uses flashbacks and spare text to narrate her journey from living a happy life in Syria to resettling in Canada as a refugee. Amina is a bright student whose favorite part of the day is returning home from school, where she is greeted warmly by her grandfather and then reads books in the home of her uncle, a professor. This life ends with an explosion on the second page. Her family flees to Lebanon, where they end up in a refugee camp when their savings run out. Amina is lucky to get a spot in the overcrowded schools, but when her brother falls ill, the family must make a series of heartbreaking decisions in order to pay for his lifesaving medications. When the stress of renewing expensive visas becomes too much and unethical smugglers make life impossible, Amina finally finds help with a resettling agency. The story wraps up quickly from there. Based on Kullab's extensive experience with refugees, the novel skillfully depicts situations and drastic decisions many Syrian refugees face. The graphic-novel format is perfect for the story, using cinematic techniques to propel the story and adding poignant notes, as when Amina's father reads a text message asking for help and conceals it from her. Extensive endnotes highlight the true events referenced in the book. Groundbreaking and unforgettable. (Graphic historical fiction. 12-17)

ALA Booklist (Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2018)

Amina has not had an easy life. As a refugee, she's been forced from her home, must drop out of school to afford her brother's life-saving medication and help pay her family's debts, and later adapt to a completely new country and culture. And yet, she's considered one of the lucky ones. This moving comic is a work of fiction, but Kullab has done a fantastic job describing the all-too-real plights of the Syrian people, as her back pages of footnotes and pictures demonstrate. Though the story is fast moving, Kullab skillfully weaves stark exposition and history of the conflict into the main story, highlighting the many challenges and horrors of this humanitarian crisis. But the tone throughout remains hopeful, making it feel like a plea for assistance. Roche's illustrations match that gentle-as-possible tone; she does not shy away from the despair and destruction, but her light color hue and focus on human interactions and emotions strive to inform, not horrify. A timely must-read.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Written by a former reporter for the Lebanon Star and illustrated by Roche in stark, vivid panel sequences, this frank graphic novel opens in 2013 Aleppo as the neighborhood greengrocer greets studious Amina on her way home from school. Suddenly, everything is chaos as an explosion rips through the neighborhood. Though the political situation has been deteriorating, this event signals the end to Amina-s father: -Dad said all was lost. We had to leave.- In a camp in Lebanon, refugees from Syria are kept isolated. There-s little work and little food. Amina-s dreams of further education evaporate into a haze of debt and fear; a friend of hers is married at 13. When the family gets an offer to resettle in Canada, Amina-s mother hesitates; in a heartbreaking sequence, a bus trip back to Syria shows her that -home- doesn-t exist anymore, and she agrees to leave. Kullab-s story focuses less on emigration and more on the process by which ordinary families become the faceless refugees of news reports. When readers next hear news about Syria, they will likely remember Amina. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

In Aleppo City, in 2013, young Amina's life is changed forever when a bomb destroys her neighborhood and her family joins the millions of refugees fleeing Syria. In this graphic novel, Amina uses flashbacks and spare text to narrate her journey from living a happy life in Syria to resettling in Canada as a refugee. Amina is a bright student whose favorite part of the day is returning home from school, where she is greeted warmly by her grandfather and then reads books in the home of her uncle, a professor. This life ends with an explosion on the second page. Her family flees to Lebanon, where they end up in a refugee camp when their savings run out. Amina is lucky to get a spot in the overcrowded schools, but when her brother falls ill, the family must make a series of heartbreaking decisions in order to pay for his lifesaving medications. When the stress of renewing expensive visas becomes too much and unethical smugglers make life impossible, Amina finally finds help with a resettling agency. The story wraps up quickly from there. Based on Kullab's extensive experience with refugees, the novel skillfully depicts situations and drastic decisions many Syrian refugees face. The graphic-novel format is perfect for the story, using cinematic techniques to propel the story and adding poignant notes, as when Amina's father reads a text message asking for help and conceals it from her. Extensive endnotes highlight the true events referenced in the book. Groundbreaking and unforgettable. (Graphic historical fiction. 12-17)

School Library Journal Starred Review (Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2017)

Gr 8 Up-Amina is one of millions of people affected by the ongoing Syrian conflict. Following a vicious attack in their home neighborhood, the teen and her family struggle to find normalcy amid the political chaos. They join the ranks of refugees fleeing for survival, traveling through Syria, Lebanon, and ultimately Canada. This is a collaborative masterpiece: Kullab, a reporter who has an extensive background covering conflicts in Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq, has teamed up with cartoonist Roche to deliver this emotional narrative. Kullab begins Amina's story in media res, immersing the audience into a fully realized world with strong characters. Roche's colorful illustrations, with cartoon characters and immaculately detailed scenery, provide emotion and heart when the script sometimes loses itself in its recapping of recent events. Amina's story closely mirrors real historical events, and Syria feels like a developing protagonist in the plot. There are moments of graphic violence and the depictions of war-torn landscapes feature wounded soldiers and corpses. VERDICT In league with Art Spiegelman's Maus and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis , this is a must-purchase for any teen or adult graphic novel collection. Matisse Mozer, County of Los Angeles Public Library