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Yara's Spring
At 10, Yara is a loved and happy child living with her parents behind their bakery in Aleppo, going to dance class with her best friend, Shireen. A few years later, in 2010, her visiting Uncle Sami expresses hope in the Arab Spring uprising against the oppressive government of Syrian President al-Asaad. That hope is soon replaced by fear, violence, and death when their home takes a direct hit from government bombs and Yara’s parents are killed. Yara, her little brother, Saad, and Nana (her grandmother) survive and soon begin a journey toward refuge, taking Shireen and Shireen’s older brother, Ali, with them. Their goal is Jordan, but first they must reach Damascus and Uncle Sami. This riveting story is propelled not just by the drama of harrowing events as they unfold but by characters who offer an intimate, insider’s point of view on recent events in Syria and the intensity of living with such violence, uncertainty, and fear. The contrast between Yara’s life at 10 and everything else that happens is striking, and further underscores her losses, which resonate across the lives of many refugees. Yara does arrive at a place of physical safety, but her emotional journey clearly continues. A note reveals that author Saeed’s personal story, while much different from his fictional characters’, also involved oppression, flight, and exile. ©2021 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 11 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
20th Century
21st Century
Friendship
Grandmothers
Historical Fiction
Muslim People
Oppression
Refugees
Survival
Syrians and Syrian Americans
War
Diversity subjects:
Arab
Asian
Middle East
Muslim
Publisher:
Annick
Publish Year: 2020
Pages: 298
ISBN: 9781773214405
CCBC Location: Fiction, Saeed