The Waiting Place: When Home Is Lost and a New One Not yet Found
The Waiting Place: When Home Is Lost and a New One Not yet Found
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Candlewick Press
Annotation: “Infused with empathy and understanding. . . . This is a book to be read and discussed.” —School Library Connection (sta... more
Genre: [Social sciences]
 
Reviews: 4
Catalog Number: #832420
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Copyright Date: 2024
Edition Date: 2024 Release Date: 05/07/24
ISBN: 1-536-23311-0
ISBN 13: 978-1-536-23311-7
Dewey: 305
Language: English
Reviews:
School Library Journal Starred Review (Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Gr 6 Up Influential and compelling color photographs illuminate the traumatic and devastating plight of refugee children, many from Iran or Afghanistan, living at the Katsikas refugee camp in Ioannina, Greece. Nayeri, a former refugee herself, creates a nonfiction work that will tug at heartstrings by putting a face to the harsh reality refugee children experience living in cramped shipping crates or trailer homes. Nayeri talks about the psychology and pain of waiting in limbo and how it takes the joy out of life. This stunning title appeals to readers' emotions and highlights the human toll of the refugee crisis. Nayeri's work could be used in sociology, history, or government classes, as well as literature units on persuasive writing. An afterword includes facts about refugees before COVID-19, changes made by the Geneva Convention, and a glossary. Important questions are raised about why actual numbers are low for refugees applying for asylum, and how citizens of the world can actually help by appealing to lawmakers. Perhaps this text will be the proverbial axe that breaks through frozen indifference and inspires some heartfelt action. VERDICT An important nonfiction tool in social emotional learning to draw attention to the harsh realities facing refugee children around the world. Laura Dooley-Taylor

Horn Book (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

When home is lost and a new one not yet found, children are sent to the Waiting Place.

Kirkus Reviews

Profiles of 10 different young people from various ethnic groups who are stuck waiting in a refugee camp in Greece after fleeing Afghanistan and Iran.The children, ages roughly 5 to 13, find ways to pass the time, some more successfully than others-playing with a bow fashioned from an old bedspring, reading, drawing, and engaging in pretend play. Older kids sometimes get to go to school outside the gated, guarded camp. The afterword by Nayeri, herself a former child refugee from Iran forced to wait for resettlement, stresses the importance of centering our common humanity, calling on governments and readers to act. The striking color photos and brief text sometimes tell different stories: Certainly, there is danger, boredom, and difficulty as emphasized in the text; there is also creativity, laughter, and resilience as shown in the photos. In contrast to more commonly seen narratives about dangerous flights from home or the challenges of settling in a new country, this work highlights the sometimes yearslong waits some refugees have in camps. Nayeri asks readers to extend kindness because refugees will be "ragged and tired and sad" upon arrival in the West; while true for some, this may reinforce discriminatory fears about mental health. The book's often universalist depiction of refugees is a weakness, but its strength is offering a peek into real refugees' lives.A window into life in a refugee camp-portrayed as a place to wait to be rescued. (glossary, author's note) (Nonfiction. 12-adult)

Reviewing Agencies: - Find Other Reviewed Titles
School Library Journal Starred Review (Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)
Horn Book (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)
Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
Word Count: 2,801
Reading Level: 4.0
Interest Level: 7-12
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 4.0 / points: 0.5 / quiz: 517701 / grade: Middle Grades+
Guided Reading Level: X
Fountas & Pinnell: X

“Infused with empathy and understanding. . . . This is a book to be read and discussed.” —School Library Connection (starred review)

In 2018, Dina Nayeri—a former refugee and the daughter of a refugee—invited documentary photographer Anna Bosch Miralpeix to accompany her to Katsikas, a refugee camp in Greece, to record the hopes and struggles of ten young Farsi-speaking refugees from Iran and Afghanistan. Ranging in age from five to seventeen, the children live in partitioned shipping-crate homes crowded on a field below a mountain. Battling a dreary monster that wants to rob them of their purpose, dignity, and identity, each survives in his or her own way.
The Waiting Place is an unflinching look at ten young lives suspended outside of time—and bravely proceeding anyway. Each lyrical passage leads the reader from one story to the next, revealing the dreams, ambitions, and personalities of each displaced child. The stories are punctuated by intimate photographs, followed by the author’s reflections on life in a refugee camp. Locking the global refugee crisis sharply in focus, The Waiting Place is an urgent call to change what we teach young people about the nature of home and safety.


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