But being a refugee means this opportunity comes with the heartbreak of leaving behind the only home Jude knows, and along with it her father and older brother who cannot join her in America.
"It is so strange to feel lucky," remarks the young narrator Jude, "for something that is making my heart feel so sad."Īfter landing in America, once Jude and her mother's documents are verified by immigration, Jude realises that she's one of the lucky ones to receive a second chance to build a life. Thus, Jude shifts her life from a small Syrian town to Cincinnati in America, a country that considers itself the centre of the world, where everything looks new and shiny, and everyone seems to be living in a comfortable, cocooned existence.Īs a young Syrian refugee, Jude has faced the hard truths of life, and it is with this lens of awareness that she navigates her new home in America.Īs a young Syrian refugee, Jude has faced the hard truths of life, and it is with this lens of awareness that she navigates her new home in America
In Other Words for Home, Jude comes from an idyllic Syrian town that had managed to avoid the violence and danger, but once peace close to home is disrupted, there's no choice but to leave if she and her mother are to have a safe chance at life. In such a setting, we find Jude, the Muslim Girl representation we've all been waiting for. Any adult would struggle to make such a drastic change in their life, but it's just as hard, if not harder, for children when they become refugees because they're tasked with the hurdle of finding a new home, while building their sense of self in a world that is volatile and unpredictable. Jude is only a little girl when she's faced with the tough life experience of leaving her current home to start a new one in a foreign country. Jasmine Warga's timely new young adult novel explores the current refugee crisis from the perspective of a child whose life is uprooted as a result of war and violence. "I search every day for a clue about why I deserve
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