Publishers Weekly
05/08/2023
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. (May)
From the Publisher
Poignant” — Foreword Reviews
“Hauntingly hopeful” — Kirkus
[STAR] “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.”— Booklist (starred)
“Chilling.” — Publishers Weekly
“Saleh’s prose, translated from Arabic, is elegant but direct, avoiding descriptions of violence without dulling the emotional impact of the tragedies in these brothers’ lives. Omar and Sufyan just want safety and reliable sources of food (and maybe some video games), and their alternating perspectives give readers two access points to a story that shines a light on the threats, both present and in the future, that refugee children face.” – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“A moving portrait of the horrors of armed conflict” — Horn Book
Kirkus Reviews
2023-03-29
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)
