April 15, 2023
A tale of two brothers set against the backdrop of the Syrian civil war. After fleeing the violence that destroyed his family's home and led to the death of his father, 15-year-old Omar diffidently steps into his role as head of the family. Living with his mother and younger brother and sister in his aunt Sajida's home in Al-Nuaman ("the poppy flower"), Omar must obtain rations and other necessities, including medicine for their diabetic mother, while also trying to keep intractable Sufyan, 12, in line and his own heavy feelings at bay. Angry and unimpressed by his brother's feeble attempts, Sufyan secretly provides for his family only to be coerced and abducted by the Falcons of Truth, a group of Muslim extremists seeking to indoctrinate and use child soldiers. Distraught over Sufyan's disappearance, Omar attempts to find him, but soon further violence comes to the village and threatens his friends' and family's survival. Throughout this novel, which alternates between Omar's and Sufyan's perspectives, the brothers make thoughtful and heartbreaking observations about the cruelties of war, the loss of childhood innocence, and the hypocrisy of the Falcons, whose theology and practices sharply contrast with their own understandings of God and Islam. Saleh's prose, translated from Arabic by Qualey, is accessible and straightforward. Though the novel is short, it carries deep emotional impact, and while the ending is somewhat abrupt, it's imbued with themes of reconciliation and healing. Hauntingly hopeful. (Fiction. 10-14)
COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
May 8, 2023
Until war came to Syria, 15-year-old Omar lived happily with his 12-year-old brother Sufyan, six-year-old sister Thoraya, and their parents in the Syrian city of Raqqun, attending school, playing soccer, and helping his father tend the family farm. But when bombing begins and their father is killed by shrapnel, the boys move with Thoraya and their diabetic mother to a relative’s packed country home in village Al-Nuaman—“the poppy flower.” There, each family worries about food, water, and medicine, and the brothers clash over how to care for their loved ones. Clever, moody Sufyan, who sees Omar as a weakling and a coward, starts disappearing on increasingly risky missions to meet their needs. Often-unsure-of-himself Omar, meanwhile, steadfastly queues in hope of buying rationed supplies, and tries unsuccessfully to rein in Sufyan’s potentially dangerous activities. When Sufyan’s unwitting connection to a religious extremist group leads to his kidnapping, Omar and two friends set out to find him, taking a treacherous journey through the wilderness. In Qualey’s smooth translation, Omar and Sufyan’s alternating first-person sections thoughtfully explore myriad devastations around an ongoing crisis, including chilling details regarding Sufyan’s abduction, while the novel’s lean format provides just the right amount of tension and suspense. Ages 10–14.
July 1, 2023
Brothers Omar and Sufyan find their lives upended by the Syrian civil war. After their home in Raqqun is bombed, killing their father, the family moves to the more rural village of Al-Nuaman. They struggle to find food, and their mother's diabetes endangers her health, requiring difficult-to-obtain medicine. Fifteen-year-old Omar is bookish, meek, and tries to be the man of the family; twelve-year old Sufyan also wants to help but is impatient, impulsive, and "has endless secrets." The book alternates between their points of view, offering readers differing perspectives on the same home life. Eventually, Sufyan's story becomes the central one when he goes missing: he is lured and kidnapped by a militant Islamic group, given military training, and being prepared for combat and death (martyrdom). This short but intense book, with its abrupt ending, deals with complicated aspects of war and how youth are often forced to take on the burdens of caretaking and problem-solving for an entire family before their time. A moving portrait of the horrors of armed conflict and a window into the epidemic of child abduction during war and the psychological effects of extremist religious grooming and indoctrination. Julie Hakim Azzam
(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
Starred review from May 15, 2023
Grades 6-9 *Starred Review* The consequences of war are as varied as the lives they touch, and when fighting reaches Raqqan, Syria, it takes the life of the father of Omar, 15, and Sufyan, 12. The brothers flee with their sick mother and little sister to a refugee camp, where the boys, who narrate different sections of the book, draw in readers through their differing perspectives. As the eldest, Omar feels obligated to step into his baba's empty shoes, but the sensitive and peaceable young teen struggles to command the authority of this position. Conversely, Sufyan knows his own strong, outgoing personality makes him better suited to take charge. This conviction leads Sufyan to look for a way to help his family financially, a well-intentioned goal that gets him and several of the camp's boys kidnapped by the extremist group Falcons of Truth. Omar describes his desperate search for his brother, while Sufyan relays the horrible experiences he endures as an unwilling soldier for the Falcons. Excellently translated from the Arabic, this slim novel acts as a razor-sharp dissection of the Syrian War's destructive power. Moments are necessarily brutal, but both boys' growth and unfaltering love for each other shine brighter. Stark without ever losing sight of hope or the humanity that picks itself up from the rubble of others' folly, Saleh's novel blooms with unforgettable beauty.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
July 1, 2023
Brothers Omar and Sufyan find their lives upended by the Syrian civil war. After their home in Raqqun is bombed, killing their father, the family moves to the more rural village of Al-Nuaman. They struggle to find food, and their mother's diabetes endangers her health, requiring difficult-to-obtain medicine. Fifteen-year-old Omar is bookish, meek, and tries to be the man of the family; twelve-year old Sufyan also wants to help but is impatient, impulsive, and "has endless secrets." The book alternates between their points of view, offering readers differing perspectives on the same home life. Eventually, Sufyan's story becomes the central one when he goes missing: he is lured and kidnapped by a militant Islamic group, given military training, and being prepared for combat and death (martyrdom). This short but intense book, with its abrupt ending, deals with complicated aspects of war and how youth are often forced to take on the burdens of caretaking and problem-solving for an entire family before their time. A moving portrait of the horrors of armed conflict and a window into the epidemic of child abduction during war and the psychological effects of extremist religious grooming and indoctrination.
(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)