Summary Omar lives in a refugee camp in Kenya with his brother, Hassan. While Omar is hopeful he and his brother will be reunited with their mom, life in the camp is not easy. They are usually hungry and always doing chores. Omar takes on raising his brother in the meantime and while their bond is close, Hassan is nonverbal and this brings its own set of challenges. When Omar gets the opportunity to go to school in the camp, he hesitates. Who will care for Hassan? How will they get everything done each day? Ultimately, he thinks this will change the course of their lives, so he decides to go to school. With his family, Hassan, at the forefront of his mind, he chooses everyday to keep going and in this graphic novel we get a glimpse into what life is like in a refugee camp.
Book Evaluation The characters in this story are the story. Hassan and Omar’s brotherhood and loyalty to each other is a thread that is weaved throughout the entire story. Along with other valuable characters such as Fatuma, Jeri, Nimo, and Maryam that give glimpses into different families and stories that take place within the refugee camp, the characters had a familial bond that was at the heart of the story. The illustrations in the graphic novel were a great representation of the story and show the setting and really do a great job giving you a picture of what these characters look like and what the camp looks like.
Inclusive Perspective I think this story could serve as a mirror for any person who has dealt with loss or separation from their family. This is a huge part of Omar’s story and it’s a theme that follows him throughout the story - loyalty and honoring his family. Another more obvious mirror would be for anyone that has left or been forced out of their home/country. I think there are a lot of people who could relate to leaving their home due to safety concerns or better opportunities elsewhere. This story created a lot of windows for me. I will admit that when I thought about refugee camps, this is not at all what I imagined. I always thought it was kind of like a little neighborhood with houses. I was really given a look into what life is like for refugees and how difficult it is to gain any sort of status in the US or Canada. That process was so surprising to me because when I think of refugees I generally thought that countries welcomed them to seek safety from their home countries and that it was an easy process.
Classroom Implications I think a creative, more hands on way to incorporate this text would be to have students create some sort of comic strip/graphic novel-like way to tell a story. Depending on your students and what they need, you could have them illustrate and tell a story from their life or about their family. If this would be too sensitive of a subject, you could have them illustrate parts of Omar and Hassan’s life detailed in the afterward. Another implication would be to have students do some further research on refugee camps and research ways to help other students in refugee camps - for example, like gently used materials or things that could be donated.
Jamieson, V., & Mohamed, O. (2020). When Stars Are Scattered. Dial Books For Children.
Omar lives in a refugee camp in Kenya with his brother, Hassan. While Omar is hopeful he and his brother will be reunited with their mom, life in the camp is not easy. They are usually hungry and always doing chores. Omar takes on raising his brother in the meantime and while their bond is close, Hassan is nonverbal and this brings its own set of challenges. When Omar gets the opportunity to go to school in the camp, he hesitates. Who will care for Hassan? How will they get everything done each day? Ultimately, he thinks this will change the course of their lives, so he decides to go to school. With his family, Hassan, at the forefront of his mind, he chooses everyday to keep going and in this graphic novel we get a glimpse into what life is like in a refugee camp.
Book Evaluation
The characters in this story are the story. Hassan and Omar’s brotherhood and loyalty to each other is a thread that is weaved throughout the entire story. Along with other valuable characters such as Fatuma, Jeri, Nimo, and Maryam that give glimpses into different families and stories that take place within the refugee camp, the characters had a familial bond that was at the heart of the story. The illustrations in the graphic novel were a great representation of the story and show the setting and really do a great job giving you a picture of what these characters look like and what the camp looks like.
Inclusive Perspective
I think this story could serve as a mirror for any person who has dealt with loss or separation from their family. This is a huge part of Omar’s story and it’s a theme that follows him throughout the story - loyalty and honoring his family. Another more obvious mirror would be for anyone that has left or been forced out of their home/country. I think there are a lot of people who could relate to leaving their home due to safety concerns or better opportunities elsewhere. This story created a lot of windows for me. I will admit that when I thought about refugee camps, this is not at all what I imagined. I always thought it was kind of like a little neighborhood with houses. I was really given a look into what life is like for refugees and how difficult it is to gain any sort of status in the US or Canada. That process was so surprising to me because when I think of refugees I generally thought that countries welcomed them to seek safety from their home countries and that it was an easy process.
Classroom Implications
I think a creative, more hands on way to incorporate this text would be to have students create some sort of comic strip/graphic novel-like way to tell a story. Depending on your students and what they need, you could have them illustrate and tell a story from their life or about their family. If this would be too sensitive of a subject, you could have them illustrate parts of Omar and Hassan’s life detailed in the afterward.
Another implication would be to have students do some further research on refugee camps and research ways to help other students in refugee camps - for example, like gently used materials or things that could be donated.
Jamieson, V., & Mohamed, O. (2020). When Stars Are Scattered. Dial Books For Children.