“Filled with kindness and hope, but also with the harsh
realities of the horrors of war, this heartbreaking book is a
necessary reminder of what many people live through every day.”
—Booklist (starred review)
Nadia’s family
is forced to flee their home in Aleppo, Syria, when the Arab Spring
sparks a civil war in this timely coming-of-age novel from
award-winning author N.H. Senzai.
Silver and gold
balloons. A birthday cake covered in pink roses. A new dress.
Nadia stands at the
center of attention in her parents’ elegant dining room. This is
the best day of my life, she thinks. Everyone is about to sing “Happy
Birthday,” when her uncle calls from the living room, “Baba,
brothers, you need to see this.” Reluctantly, she follows her
family into the other room. On TV, a reporter stands near an
overturned vegetable cart on a dusty street. Beside it is a mound of
smoldering ashes. The reporter explains that a vegetable vendor in
the city of Tunis burned himself alive, protesting corrupt government
officials who have been harassing his business. Nadia frowns.
It is December 17,
2010: Nadia’s twelfth birthday and the beginning of the Arab
Spring. Soon anti-government protests erupt across the Middle East
and, one by one, countries are thrown into turmoil. As civil war
flares in Syria and bombs fall across Nadia’s home city of Aleppo,
her family decides to flee to safety. Inspired by current events,
this novel sheds light on the complicated situation in Syria that has
led to an international refugee crisis, and tells the story of one
girl’s journey to safety.