Tuesday, October 23, 2018

The Unwanted : Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown

The Unwanted : Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown, 105 pages. NON-FICTION, GRAPHIC NOVEL Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. $18. 1328810151

Language: G (0 Swears, 0 'f'); Mature Content: G Violence: PG 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS,  HS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

The plight of the Syrian refugees is chronicled in this well researched, age appropriate graphic novel. Spanning from 2011-2018 we see that violence and fear has caused these people to abandon their homes and leave at great personal loss. Taken advantage of by smugglers, and unwanted by the countries they pass through and into, the families are living in refugee camps, hiding along the way, and drowning in the ocean with only a lucky few landing in a place they can live and work in peace. 

Don Brown is a master at taking something super complicated and paring it down to the essentials without losing the impact of the message (see Drowned City).  There were a lot of numbers thrown at us, but there are a lot of refugees. Brown is careful to not make it political or religious. A wonderful introduction to this terrible situation. Includes source notes and an extensive bibliography plus a dedication that made me cry.

Lisa Librarian

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