Daughter of War

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Overview

Teenagers Kevork and his betrothed Marta are the lucky ones. They have managed so far to survive the Armenian genocide in Turkey, and both are disguised as Muslims. But Marta is still in Turkey, pregnant with another man's child. And Kevork is living as an Arab in Syria.

Kevork yearns to get back into Turkey and search for Marta, but with the war raging and the genocide still in progress, the journey will be impossibly dangerous. Meanwhile, Marta worries that even if Kevork has survived and they are reunited, will he be able to accept what she has become? And what has happened to her sister, Mariam, who was sold as a slave to the highest bidder?

Daughter of War is a gripping story of enduring love and loyalty set against the horrors of Turkey during World War I.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554556632
Publisher:	Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Limited
Publication date:	04/04/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	210
File size:	488 KB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is the author of many books for children and young adults, including Call Me Aram, Aram's Choice, Silver Threads, Enough, The Hunger, and Hope's War. Her novel about the Armenian genocide, Nobody's Child, was nominated for the Red Maple Award, the Alberta Rocky Mountain Book Award, and the B.C. Stellar Award; it was also listed by Resource Links as a "Best Book." An English scholar and former librarian, Marsha lives in Brantford, Ontario, with her husband and son.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 9 Up

Betrothed teens Kevork and Marta have been apart since being removed from their orphanage in Marash, Turkey, during the Armenian Genocide of 1915 when they were marched into the Syrian Desert without food or water. Separated by distance and the necessity of hiding, neither of them knows if the other is still alive. Kevork, rescued by nomads and now disguised as an Arab, is determined to return to the orphanage but faces many obstacles, including the opportunity to help smuggle funds and resources to the Armenians in concentration camps. Marta, meanwhile, had been taken in by a Muslim family in Aintab and forced to be a concubine. Now pregnant, she returns to the orphanage and helps protect its residents, still hoping to be reunited with Kevork. Because the story is told in alternating perspectives, readers know that both teens have survived, which removes some dramatic tension but allows the author to explore the development of the characters. Such is the universality of their feelings that a deep understanding of the historical context is not necessary, but would be helpful. Fortunately, a fairly detailed historical note and map provide context for readers who have likely heard very little about the second-largest genocide in history. This is a powerful, often harrowing novel that will appeal to those who appreciate books about people surviving in spite of grave injustices.-Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH

School Library Journal

Following Nobody's Child (2003) and Aram's Choice (2006), Skrypuch continues the story of the Armenian genocide, this time focusing on the lives of Marta Hovsepian and Kevork Adomian. It's 1916, and World War I is raging. Two Armenian massacres have occurred, and the two protagonists have survived, for now-Marta by living in a Turkish home as a Muslim woman, Kevork by adoption into an Arab clan in Syria. They are betrothed but separated, neither knowing if the other has survived, always wondering if they will ever be reunited. The carefully structured narrative, with several alternating third-person points-of-view and much revealed through flashbacks, is distancing, but it does yield a sense of the epic; readers will feel that they have been on Kevork's journey with him, across the deserts and through the concentration camps in his quest to find Marta. The smells of the bazaars and graphic images from death marches and concentration camps root the story in the particulars of time and place. A good match with Adam Bagdasarian's Forgotten Fire (2002). (map, historical note) (Fiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews