Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Fri Sep 16 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

When a nature-based calamity befalls a pair of young brothers, the boys find refuge and community among sandy shores.Images of happier times adorn the title and copyright pages: a birthday party, a snuggle on a couch. Turn the page, and a catastrophe emerges with "a howl, / a dark whirl of wind and power." Snapshots of destruction-homes destroyed, a fallen roof-follow. Bruised purples and deep reds bleed across the artwork, a solemn, breathtaking portrait of ruin. It's now night, and the brothers can't find their parents. Covering their shoulders with a blanket, the children walk "one foot in front of the other," away from the destruction behind them. They arrive at a beach, where they lie down; others slumber near them, "strewn on the shore like shells, / like rocks, like driftwood." Morning comes, bringing with it soothing light. Hunger pulls the brothers out of their thoughts and toward a fire, where others gather. With the calm waves at their feet, the survivors huddle near the fire, waiting until help breaks through the horizon. This painful yet hopeful tale renders its difficult subject matter palpable. Mayper's decision to omit specific context from this tale-in, as she describes in an author's note, a move toward "our human connection"-proves sensible thanks to evocative text that allows readers to fill in the details. Similarly, the artwork delineates moods and emotions via a precise, rich palette that favors visceral landscapes and nondescript characters to its advantage. Characters are dark-haired and light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Powerfully compelling. (Picture book. 4-8)

Horn Book (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

An unspecified natural disaster destroys the home of two brothers, who are then unable to locate their parents. With the "howl" of the storm lingering in their minds, the pair starts walking, just putting "one foot in front of the other." The older brother carries a blanket, and the younger (who narrates the story) holds an orange that, once peeled and opened, serves as a metaphor for his nascent attempts to deal with the trauma. The boys sleep in each other's arms on a beach near other people left homeless ("like driftwood"). Kim's palette then brightens, shifting from the dark shadows of the storm and its aftermath to the yellow sun rising on the shore, as hope arrives in the form of a boat. They board, and the younger boy looks back at the smoke where their home once was, knowing they "could not go back." Mayper, as explained in the back matter, set out to chronicle an "experience of catastrophe" to represent the plight of all refugees. Those wanting a refugee story built around specifics -- and one with closure -- should look elsewhere. But this can serve as a conversation starter for young children, particularly those looking further at the two resources Mayper suggests for learning more about displaced persons.

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

When a nature-based calamity befalls a pair of young brothers, the boys find refuge and community among sandy shores.Images of happier times adorn the title and copyright pages: a birthday party, a snuggle on a couch. Turn the page, and a catastrophe emerges with "a howl, / a dark whirl of wind and power." Snapshots of destruction-homes destroyed, a fallen roof-follow. Bruised purples and deep reds bleed across the artwork, a solemn, breathtaking portrait of ruin. It's now night, and the brothers can't find their parents. Covering their shoulders with a blanket, the children walk "one foot in front of the other," away from the destruction behind them. They arrive at a beach, where they lie down; others slumber near them, "strewn on the shore like shells, / like rocks, like driftwood." Morning comes, bringing with it soothing light. Hunger pulls the brothers out of their thoughts and toward a fire, where others gather. With the calm waves at their feet, the survivors huddle near the fire, waiting until help breaks through the horizon. This painful yet hopeful tale renders its difficult subject matter palpable. Mayper's decision to omit specific context from this tale-in, as she describes in an author's note, a move toward "our human connection"-proves sensible thanks to evocative text that allows readers to fill in the details. Similarly, the artwork delineates moods and emotions via a precise, rich palette that favors visceral landscapes and nondescript characters to its advantage. Characters are dark-haired and light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Powerfully compelling. (Picture book. 4-8)

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

Following an unspecified disaster (“a howl,/ a dark whirl of wind and power”) that crumbles their home, two siblings make their way to a beach with only a blanket, an orange, and each other. With the moon and stars watching over the children (“We were not alone”), more people, portrayed with light skin, dot eyes, and straight brown hair, gather to sleep, “strewn on the shore like shells,/ like rocks, like driftwood.” The next morning, some start a fire and some share food; the siblings offer segments of their orange to the group as “the waves gently brushed the shore.” Soon they all spot a boat coming for them, knowing that they “could not go back.// Only on, to the new we did not know/ that waited on the other shore.” Focusing, per an author’s note, on “our human connection” over story specifics, Mayper writes in opaque prose whose vagueness gives the story an unmoored feel. Kim’s warm-hued, vividly wrought watercolor and digital art, meanwhile, focuses on the natural landscapes the individuals share. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–7. (Aug.)

School Library Journal (Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

K-Gr 2 "There was a howl, a dark whirl of wind and power. / It was night, and cold. /We could not find our father, mother. / Only each other." When their house collapses from a terrifying, unspecified disaster in the middle of the night, two young brothers cannot find their parents and make their way to a nearby beach with only a blanket and an orange. In the morning, they meet other refugees, all dark-haired like them, who start a campfire and share what little food they have; the boys divide up their orange in return. Soon, a rescue boat arrives and takes everyone "to the new we did not know / that waited on the other shore. / We were not alone." As Mayper indicates in an author's note at the end of the book, this refugee story "does not try to recount events that happened to specific people at a particular time, focusing instead on our human connection." That generous message of hope and help is complemented by the stylized illustrations that create a melancholy sense of isolation and disconnect. While the brothers' bond and closeness is apparent, there is a physical as well as emotional distance between them and the other refugees in the story; even on the rescue boat, the brothers stand side by side but apart from everyone else. Although there is a brief mention of their suppressed grief for their lost parents, and the older brother confides "Inside me too was a raw cry. I could not let it out," there is hardly any further mention or closure for this devastating event. VERDICT This work could not be more topical or timely, given the tragically numerous refugee crises, and may share shelf space with Kate Milner's My Name Is Not Refugee and Yuyi Morales's Dreamers , which provide more comprehensive and realistically hopeful depictions of the refugee experience. Yelena Voysey