Name: When Stars Are Scattered
Rating: 4.54 (25 reviews)
ISBN: 9780525553915

Victoria Jamieson

Omar Mohamed

"Omar and his younger brother Hassan live in a refugee camp, and when an opportunity for Omar to get an education comes along, he must decide between going to school every day or caring for his nonverbal brother in this ... portrayal of family and daily life in a refugee camp"--

When Stars Are Scattered

Sabrina D. 

Support the author’s efforts: https://www.refugeestrong.org/

Stef

Isabela H 

This book was so pure and so heartfelt, I loved following the story, especially as the characters developed. As someone who had very little at stake simply because I didn’t think I had a lot in common with the characters, I was still touched by their growth. The maturity that they had to develop simply to survive was really inspirational, and I’m so happy with how their story turned out.

Kim Tyo-Dickerson

Being a library kid, my son, 12-years-old, has a few pretty awesome perks. One of the best is always being able to help me open shipments with dozens of boxes of new books, and excitedly choosing which of them to take home first, breathing in the fresh, new book smell and opening fresh, never read pages. Two copies of When the Stars Are Scattered were in my new graphic novels box in the shipment and he grabbed one of them along with a large stack of other books to bring home to read. 

I watched him read Omar Mohamed and his little brother Hassan's story the first time through with his brow wrinkled, eyebrows knitted together, and pages flying, peering closely at Victoria Jamieson's illustrations and panels, following the story of the two orphan boys from Somalia who flee soldiers who killed their father and attacked their village and find themselves sick and on their own in the Dadaab Kenyan refugee camp. Maybe my boy saw something of his own story as a transracial adoptee from Ethiopia, maybe he was forging a connection to these other African children, Omar, Hassan, and the other children in the camp, allowing a very different story of grief, waiting, community and found family to bring insights into his own history of loss and love.

When he finished reading that first time, he put it aside and read a different book. Then later that night, I found him reading When Stars Are Scattered again. And multiple times thereafter, I found my library copy laying beside his bed where he was re-reading favorite parts or I would find it under the pillows on the couch where he was reading it again another day. He loved it so much, I quickly realized I would need to buy him his own copy, and so I did and that's the copy I just finished reading. 

I asked him to share some of the reasons he re-reads this book so often: 

"It's compelling. You want to know what happens to them. Even when you know, you just start again and want to watch it happen. It has elements about what life really is: sadness, loss, desperation, but also the idea of home being wherever family is and that friends can be family sometimes. Loss is very hard, especially if you've dealt with it more than one time. And they were the lucky ones. We might think that they had it really bad, but they had it really good compared to some people who didn't make it."

Then I asked him what ages he would recommend this book for: "I would say 11 or 12, maybe 13 or 14. It's not scary, but it is very sad. And if you really want someone to know what's happening in the book, they have to understand what's happening in the world."

A National Book Award Finalist, this remarkable graphic novel is about growing up in a refugee camp, as told by a former Somali refugee to the Newbery Honor-winning creator of Roller Girl. Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future . . . but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day. Heartbreak, hope, and gentle humor exist together in this graphic novel about a childhood spent waiting, and a young man who is able to create a sense of family and home in the most difficult of settings. It's an intimate, important, unforgettable look at the day-to-day life of a refugee, as told to New York Times Bestselling author/artist Victoria Jamieson by Omar Mohamed, the Somali man who lived the story.

Nadine 

very interesting audio adaptation. The background sound, voices and narration is very well done. All together this is a heart-wrenching read with one rooting for the protagonist. It is not only a "pity" tale but also shows growth and development as well.

Jawahir M

It takes a different kind of bravery and strength to share your own vulnerabilities with the world, and Omar Mohammed is that kind of brave. Never have I rooted for someone to succeed so bad, and seeing those last pages did me in! 

With so many cruelties and sad stories around us, it felt so good to read about a triumph, a hope restored, and the breathtaking resilience we humans can have.  This is a story that’ll tug at your heart strings and having it in a graphic novel format is brilliant. I can definitely see younger children (especially in classrooms) identifying with Omar and it is a fantastic way to teach them about empathy and gratitude. 

The best kind of stories are the ones that can be read for children and is still enjoyable to adults.

Astha Prakash

Gorgeously illutsrated, coloured and narrated, this graphic novel narrates the story of a little boy called Omar and his brother Hassan who spent 15 years of their life in a refugee camp in Kenya. It paints a gut-wrenching picture of what surviving in a camp is really like and how war obliterates families and lives. Listening to one child's perspective makes the story so much more moving and compelling. It's a great example of why such stories need to be written, read and shared. Full stars to this beautiful read.

Omar and his brother Hassan, two Somali boys, have spent a long time in the Dadaab refugee camp. Separated from their mother, they are looked after by a friendly stranger. Life in the camp isn't always easy. The hunger is constant . . . but there's football to look forward to, and now there's a chance Omar will get to go to school . . . With a heart-wrenching fairytale ending, this incredible true story is brought to life by Victoria's stunning illustrations. This book perfectly depicts life in a refugee camp for 8-12 year olds.

When Stars are Scattered

Jeni Enjaian

I really loved this book. Jamieson takes the real life story of the characters (I apologize, a couple weeks have passed between reading the book and writing the review) and puts it into graphic novel form. Many of my middle schoolers feel intimidated with regular format novels but read as many graphic novels as they can get their hands on. Additionally, the graphics bring an added touch which allows the reader to better empathize with the characters and understand the setting and plot. I highly recommend this book.

When Stars Are Scattered

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