Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai - ADVISABLE

Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai, 320 pages.  Paula Wiseman Book (Simon and Schuster), 2018.  $17.  

Content: Language: PG (5 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ADVISABLE  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Nadia is fifteen when a bomb is dropped in her neighborhood.  As she is trying to escape her apartment complex, she gets left behind by her family who thinks she may have perished in the bombing.  Nadia remembers where her family was meeting other family members and tries to make her way across town, but has trouble navigating the war-torn streets.  Nadia crosses paths with an elderly man and the two start to help each other.  

This book is compelling and gives the reader a good look at the confusion of a war-torn country.  I’m not sure how believable the story line is, and was disappointed in the brief implied ending, but I also couldn’t stop reading.  Nadia's feelings and descriptions felt authentic.  The violence includes a man starting himself on fire in protest, bombs, snipers, torture and death.  

C. Peterson