It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week
&
the titles we are currently reading.}
This meme is originated by Jen and Kellee at TeachMentorTexts. Thanks!
FIRST! THIS happened yesterday:
•••
Nadia’s family is forced to flee their home in Aleppo, Syria, when the Arab Spring sparks a civil war in this timely coming-of-age novel from award-winning author N.H. Senzai.
Silver and gold balloons. A birthday cake covered in pink roses. A new dress.
Nadia stands at the center of attention in her parents’ elegant dining room. This is the best day of my life, she thinks. Everyone is about to sing “Happy Birthday,” when her uncle calls from the living room, “Baba, brothers, you need to see this.” Reluctantly, she follows her family into the other room. On TV, a reporter stands near an overturned vegetable cart on a dusty street. Beside it is a mound of smoldering ashes. The reporter explains that a vegetable vendor in the city of Tunis burned himself alive, protesting corrupt government officials who have been harassing his business. Nadia frowns.
It is December 17, 2010: Nadia’s twelfth birthday and the beginning of the Arab Spring. Soon anti-government protests erupt across the Middle East and, one by one, countries are thrown into turmoil. As civil war flares in Syria and bombs fall across Nadia’s home city of Aleppo, her family decides to flee to safety. Inspired by current events, this novel sheds light on the complicated situation in Syria that has led to an international refugee crisis, and tells the story of one girl’s journey to safety.
Though it took me a while to read this whole book, it was pretty amazing. One of the things that frequently strikes me is how much a human is capable of handling. Think of the people in concentration camps and what they endured and survived. Think of the daily trek to water that girls like Nya have to make—sometimes twice. Think of the Lost Boys and their cross-country treks to find safety.
Over the weekend I got to spend time with Alex who is a survivor of the genocide that took place in Rwanda, Africa. Almost 1,000,000 people of the Tutsi tribe were killed. (Look it up—it’s crazy!) Alex escaped and lived to tell the tale. He shared part of his story with my family and our church.
And now, still going on, is the fighting in Syria—a civil war. The situation is complicated, for sure. A leader who wants to keep power. Rebel forces trying to topple him. And caught in the middle? Civilians: mothers, father, children.
The pictures and video are shocking:
Look what pops up on Google Image search when I put in Syrian civil war photos.
This is the world that Nadia inhabits in Escape from Aleppo.
PERIOD 1&2 READ 9 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.
PERIOD5&6 READ 14 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.
PERIOD 8&9 READ 13 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.
AUDIO BOOK
{Eat the Book} 