Review: When Stars Are Scattered
Today, I’m sharing a book review for When Stars Art Scattered, a refugee memoir in graphic novel format.
Disclosure: I voluntarily received a complimentary copy from Timberdoodle as part of their blog review team. All views expressed are my own.
My Review
Omar Mohamed and his younger brother, Hassan, immigrated to the United States in 2009. They were refugees from the civil war in Somalia and had been living in a refugee camp in Kenya for about 15 years since they were two and four years old. Their father had been killed, and they were inadvertently separated from their mother and sisters. All those years, without knowing where their mother was, they were watched over by an older neighbor lady.
When Stars Are Scattered covers Omar’s memories of the refugee camp and his struggles as he tries to go to school and look after Hassan, who has special needs–and then the long, drawn-out process of getting the proper paperwork for “resettlement” in the United States.
The illustrations and graphic novel format make this memoir compelling for young readers. The drawings are simple and appealing, not cluttered with too much unnecessary detail, which can be visually overwhelming. While it is targeted for the middle school age group I thoroughly enjoyed it myself. The story includes enough narrative and dialog to keep the story moving.
From the Publisher
“Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar’s nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future… but it would also mean leaving his brother, his only remaining family member, every day.
This intimate, important, and unforgettable graphic novel is about family, home, and the day-to-day life of a refugee, as told to New York Times bestselling author/artist Victoria Jamieson by Omar Mohamed, the Somali man who lived the story and went on to help so many other refugees.”
Afterword
The afterword includes a few photos and an update on where Omar and Hassan are now, and what their lives are like in the United States. Omar went to college and became a social worker. He married a friend who was also a refugee at Dadaab. They have five children and live in Pennsylvania. Hassan lives with them and attends adult education classes.
Omar and Hassan returned to Kenya for a visit in 2017 and were finally reunited with their mother. She is not yet permitted to join them in the United States, but they are hopeful for the future.
More Historical Graphic Novels
If you (or your kids) enjoy the graphic novel format, you’ll want to check out these other historical graphic novels from Timberdoodle:
- Stealing Home (my review)
- Amazing World War II Stories (my review)
- 24-Hour History (my review)
- True Stories of War
- The Search and A Family Secret
- Disasters in History
- Irena: Wartime Ghetto
- Graphic U.S. History
- The United States Constitution
- The Gettysburg Address
