Narrator Vaneh Assadourian’s rich, lilting voice underscores the lyricism of this audiobook spoken in verse. She gives sonorous dignity to the Muslim family featured in the story. Twelve-year-old Jude is an ordinary girl who loves her family, her home in Syria, and American movies—but as war comes closer, her pregnant mother decides it is not safe to stay there. Jude and her mother go to “visit” Jude's uncle and aunt in Cincinnati. Assadourian switches effortlessly between Arabic accents for Jude and her family, American accents, and varied accents for the other immigrants in Jude’s ESL class. She embodies Jude’s mixed emotions as she struggles gracefully to adjust to her new home and school. Anyone who has felt like an outsider will relate to Jude’s hopeful search for belonging. S.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2019 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Other Words for Home
Narrated by Vaneh Assadourian
Jasmine WargaUnabridged — 3 hours, 50 minutes
Other Words for Home
Narrated by Vaneh Assadourian
Jasmine WargaUnabridged — 3 hours, 50 minutes
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Overview
Other Words for Home is a sweet and hopeful story about a young girl named Jude who is separated from her father and brother when she moves from Syria to the U.S. with her pregnant mother. This stunning portrayal of a young girl’s contemporary immigration experience is relatable, thought-provoking and completely deserving of its Newbery Honor status.
A gorgeously written, hopeful middle-grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the US, perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Aisha Saeed.
Jude never thought she'd be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.
At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven't quite prepared her for starting school in the US — and her new label of “Middle Eastern”, an identity she's never known before.
But this life also brings unexpected surprises — there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.
This lyrical, life-affirming story is about losing and finding home and, most importantly, finding yourself.
Editorial Reviews
★ 02/25/2019
Written in first-person free verse, this timely book traces the internal journey of a young Syrian refugee adjusting to a new home and culture in the U.S. When violence erupts near their seaside city, Jude and her pregnant mother flee to Cincinnati to stay with Jude’s uncle and his family while her shopkeeper father and activist brother (“He is always talking about change”) stay behind. In the U.S., Jude is warmly welcomed by her aunt and uncle but treated with cool indifference by her cousin, who abandons her at school, leaving Jude to navigate seventh grade in a new environment on her own. Jude struggles to fit in among students who “don’t look like me,” but she remembers her brother’s parting words—“Be brave”—and finds comfort with her new friend Layla, whose parents are from Lebanon. Rhythmic lines distill Jude’s deepest emotions—homesickness, fear when her brother enters a war zone, shock over prejudice in the U.S., and a sense of victory when she receives a speaking role in the school play. Warga (My Heart and Other Black Holes) effectively shows, as she writes in an author’s note, that “children who are fleeing from a war zone... want the same things all of us do—love, understanding, safety, a chance at happiness.” Ages 8–12. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (May)
[In] this timely book... rhythmic lines distill Jude’s deepest emotions…. Warga effectively shows, as she writes in an author’s note, that “children who are fleeing from a war zone... want the same things all of us do—love, understanding, safety, a chance at happiness.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Warga portrays with extraordinary talent the transformation of a family’s life before and after the war began in Syria.… Her free-verse narration cuts straight to the bone... [and] confront[s] the difficult realities of being Muslim and Arab in the U.S. Poetic, immersive, hopeful.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Warga’s middle-grade debut puts its hands around your heart and holds it, ever so gently, so that you’re aware of your own fragility and resilience: just as Jude is while her life changes drastically… Other Words for Home should find its way into every middle-grade reader’s hands.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)
“This powerful middle grade novel explores the complicated concepts of war and corruption, home, family, [and] belonging.... Highly recommended for all libraries, this title will easily find a home next to books like Refugee by Alan Gratz and Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
“Convincing and authentic, infused with thoughtfulness, humor, determination, and hope…. A realistic portrait of the strength it takes to move to a new country, as well as of the complicated dynamics between first- and second-generation immigrants.” — Horn Book (starred review)
“Warga situates her verse novel at a sweet spot for middle-graders…the complications of assessing whether Jude is as lucky as everyone makes her out to be ring poignantly true, and when Jude takes her place on the school stage, Warga’s audience will surely applaud.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Through Jude’s eyes readers see firsthand what it is to leave behind one’s beloved home and family as many refugees do every single day. Young readers will laugh with Jude, cry with her, and root for her every step of the way. A beautiful, powerful, and necessary book.” — Aisha Saeed, New York Times bestselling author of Amal Unbound.
“Other Words for Home is a gorgeously written middle grade novel with words that soar off the page. Told in stunning verse and featuring an effortlessly lovable narrator, this book will be a staple of middle grade shelves for years to come.” — Rachel Strolle, Teen Librarian, Glenside Public Library
“This is a necessary story. We’re lucky to have it in the world.” — Jason Reynolds, award-winning, bestselling author of Ghost and Long Way Down
Through Jude’s eyes readers see firsthand what it is to leave behind one’s beloved home and family as many refugees do every single day. Young readers will laugh with Jude, cry with her, and root for her every step of the way. A beautiful, powerful, and necessary book.
Warga’s middle-grade debut puts its hands around your heart and holds it, ever so gently, so that you’re aware of your own fragility and resilience: just as Jude is while her life changes drastically… Other Words for Home should find its way into every middle-grade reader’s hands.
“Convincing and authentic, infused with thoughtfulness, humor, determination, and hope…. A realistic portrait of the strength it takes to move to a new country, as well as of the complicated dynamics between first- and second-generation immigrants.”
Warga situates her verse novel at a sweet spot for middle-graders…the complications of assessing whether Jude is as lucky as everyone makes her out to be ring poignantly true, and when Jude takes her place on the school stage, Warga’s audience will surely applaud.
“This is a necessary story. We’re lucky to have it in the world.”
Other Words for Home is a gorgeously written middle grade novel with words that soar off the page. Told in stunning verse and featuring an effortlessly lovable narrator, this book will be a staple of middle grade shelves for years to come.
Warga situates her verse novel at a sweet spot for middle-graders…the complications of assessing whether Jude is as lucky as everyone makes her out to be ring poignantly true, and when Jude takes her place on the school stage, Warga’s audience will surely applaud.
Warga situates her verse novel at a sweet spot for middle-graders…the complications of assessing whether Jude is as lucky as everyone makes her out to be ring poignantly true, and when Jude takes her place on the school stage, Warga’s audience will surely applaud.
Convincing and authentic, infused with thoughtfulness, humor, determination, and hope…. A realistic portrait of the strength it takes to move to a new country, as well as of the complicated dynamics between first- and second-generation immigrants.
Praise for MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES: “Debut author Warga unflinchingly tackles the grim subject matter with empathy, sensitivity, and honesty, without trivializing her protagonists’ disturbing thoughts or emotions . . . [with an] utterly endearing romance.
Praise for MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES: “At times poignant, bitter, and funny, this narrative captures [a] unique voice that questions what it means to die—and to live.
Praise for HERE WE ARE NOW: “An intense family drama that will pull readers in with poignancy, romance, and grief over lost relationships, all set to the beat of scattered song lyrics woven nicely through the narrative.
★ 04/01/2019
Gr 4–8—Twelve-year-old Jude lives in a coastal tourist town in Syria where many people go to get away. While Jude wants to become a movie star, her older brother, Issa, wants more from their future than the oppression overtaking their beloved country. As the tumult crawls closer to Jude's home, Issa yearns to join the revolution in Aleppo, Baba refuses to leave his seaside store, and Mama believes the safest place for Jude, herself, and the baby she is carrying is with Jude's Uncle Mazin and Aunt Michelle in America. Leaving a possible war behind is easy, but leaving Baba, Issa, and everything she knows is hard. Adjusting to life in Cincinnati alongside her less-than-welcoming cousin, Sarah, is almost as difficult, especially with school play tryouts looming and Jude feeling that a girl like her would never get, or even merit, the spotlight. With the help of her fellow immigrant classmates and new Arabic-speaking American friend, Layla, Jude adjusts to her new home and family while never forgetting what she left behind. Told in verse and divided into five sections chronicling Jude's flight from Syria and adjustment to America, this powerful middle grade novel explores the complicated concepts of war and corruption, home, family, belonging, and how, in Jude's own words, "It is strange to feel lucky/for something that is making my heart feel so sad." VERDICT Highly recommended for all libraries, this title will easily find a home next to books like Refugee by Alan Gratz and Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.—Brittany Drehobl, Morton Grove Public Library, IL
★ 2019-03-03
A story about war and displacement, resilience and adjustment.
Warga portrays with extraordinary talent the transformation of a family's life before and after the war began in Syria. Living in a tourist town on the Syrian coastline, Jude experiences the inequalities in her society firsthand. With the unfolding of the Arab Spring, her older brother, Issa, wants to join protests against the Syrian regime. The parents are in favor of staying out of it, but with news of a new baby and nearby towns turning into battlegrounds, Jude and her mother travel to join her uncle, a medical doctor, and his family in the American Midwest. Her free-verse narration cuts straight to the bone: "Back home, / food was / rice / lamb / fish / hummus / pita bread / olives / feta cheese / za'atar with olive oil. / Here, / that food is / Middle Eastern Food. / Baguettes are French food. / Spaghetti is Italian food. / Pizza is both American and Italian, / depending on which restaurant you go to." Jude, who has always loved American movies, shares her observations—often with humor—as she soaks everything in and learns this new culture. Only when she starts feeling comfortable with having two homes, one in Syria and one in the U.S., does a terrible incident make her confront the difficult realities of being Muslim and Arab in the U.S.
Poetic, immersive, hopeful. (Historical verse fiction. 11-adult)
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940173433794 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 05/28/2019 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Age Range: | 9 - 12 Years |
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