Read this in one go. First I was worried it was “orientalist” but gave it a chance since the author is “Arab”. Afterwards I realized how it was just sincere observations of a little kid. One thing that troubled me was how the author’s mother was just a background figure, had no say in family decisions and was just following the father, who makes stupid decisions back to back. Overall I liked the book. Middle Easterners will definitely understand what it is to have an uncle that is younger than you. Also I think the father’s unhealthy and very complicated relation to the west and to the Arabs was portrayed very well

This book was much better than the first one and his drawings are amazing, making me laugh out loud at some instances and be terrified in others. He has a magnificent skill, his simple and clean drawings that portray many emotions. In the first book I wondered if he was orientalists or even a bit racist but with the second book actually my opinion changed. I saw some reader comments that says “Syria is not like this”. Well, obviously! He is talking about a village in Syria though. I am Turkish and there are many, many, many villages in Turkey where what he experienced can definitely happen. Also we are talking about 30 years ago. I actually am astonished with how much he remembers and I felt sorry for this little kid who was quite traumatised for that age with what he saw. Well, this is what being Middle Eastern is. We all have anxiety.