Jude, the primary character in this 2019 Newbery Honor book, is a dreamer, an aspiring actress, a daughter, an admiring little sister—and also a refugee from Syria. Readers will respond with poignant hope to multiple themes of belonging, family, losing and finding roots, allegiance, prejudice, and identity. The book serves as a mirror, a window, and a sliding glass door. As a mirror, some readers will see them themselves as they read about a Middle Eastern refugee middle schooler. As a window, most readers will see beyond their own realities and peer into the lives of others who are so like, yet so unlike, themselves. The author note also provides material that makes this book a sliding glass door, providing readers with information on how to create change as a result of the aching, caring and compassion that are a result of reading this book.
The chapters are short, written in lyrical prose, and full of memorable language. The structure of the text is written in six parts: Changing, Arriving, Staying, Hoping, Growing, Living. In each part the reader is able to look through Jude’s eyes to experience firsthand what it means to be a refugee young person in each of those stages. Jude is always believable, approachable, understandable, and complex—“a heart trying to figure out how to beat outside the body.” (Blurb from Jason Reynolds).
About the Author: This is Jasmine Warga’s first novel for middle grades; her other books have been written for teens. Warga is a mirror author, whose father lives in Jordan. She wrote this book “as a way to tell myself that as an Arab American girl, my dreams, hopes, and fears are as valid as anyone else’s.” She acknowledges that this book is really about the ever-growing need for generosity, another word for love. It is her wish that this book will inspire readers to give more love to others as well as ourselves.
In the author note, Warga shares where the idea came from for writing Jude’s story, who her audience is, and the real purpose for writing.
Pathways Themes: My World & Others, Friends & Family, Social Issues & Justice
Reviewed by Krystal Bishop, EdD
Professor of Education
Southern Adventist University
By Nicholas Day, Art by Brett Helquist
