Name: 🏹's review of Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
Item: Other Words for Home
Rating: 4.75
Author: 🏹

Jasmine Warga

A moving middle grade novel in verse about a Syrian girl who comes to live with her pregnant mother and relatives in the United States, from Jasmine Warga, the author of acclaimed YA novels My Heart and Other Black Holes and Here We Are Now.

Other Words for Home

Newbery Honor Book! A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States, 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.

blue

They are paying someone to scrub off the paint, but I am slowly realizing that no amount of money is enough to scrub away the hate.

It takes me a while to process this, that what Layla is saying is that Americans think it’s normal for there to be violence in places where people like me are from, where people like me and people who look like me live. That they all see people like me and think: violence, sadness, war.

She is asking me to choose between two things without realizing it is her and people like her that think you have to choose.

I want women like Aunt Michelle to understand that it is not only women who look like them, who are free, who think and care about other women. That it is possible for two things to look similar but be completely different. That I cover my head like other strong respected women have done before me, like Malala Yousafzai like Kariman Abuljadayel like my mama. That I cover my head not because I am ashamed, forced or hiding. But because I am proud and want to be seen as I am.

It is hard to find a monologue, it is hard to find a place where my favorite actresses are allowed to speak without a man interrupting them before their full thought has been spoken.

Americans love labels. They help them know what to expect. Sometimes, though, I think labels stop them from thinking.

I am learning how to be sad and happy at the same time.

alexandra

🏹

I finished the book within day, and I was left with peaceful thoughts at 2 A.M. at my place. What other better ways to end the day, don’t you think? Again with American prejudice against Muslims (or minorities in general), this book should teach you a thing or two.

I loved this story from the start. I felt seen in this book, it was a euphoric and healing experience. But this book was more. I loved how much love this story portrayed, Jude's relationship with her brother particularly stuck with me, it was so beautiful to read how much they mean to each other. I was eating up every word, every paragraph either resonated with me, gave me a new perspective or touched me deeply. Jude is such a star, i love her personality. I could say so much more, but this review is already getting long, so I will refrain. Lastly, I want to mention how beautiful the book cover is, it really sums up the story in a way. I'd definitely recommend you to pick it up!!

Raven K

I..feel like this one was a ride. I felt like I was actually going along on Jude’s journey. In some form, I was. I admire her braveness & her courage. This was a really well written story. I also really liked the characters. This book was really, really good.

Kelsey Munson

Adriana Gómez 

Decidí escuchar este audiolibro porque la portada se veía preciosa, pero la historia me sorprendió demasiado.

Me parece que la historia está muy bien contada, y fuera de informar (que también lo hace muy bien), en el libro vemos la perspectiva de Jude, mientras tiene que ir a un sitio extraño para ella. La forma en que se muestra la incertidumbre y confusión que siente es genial, y resulta cautivadora desde el principio.

Jasmine Warga tiene una forma maravillosa de escribir, llena de metáforas, y la habilidad de hacer que frases cortas se sientan poderosas y llenas de significado.

Sarah Pino

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. Novel

Stef

The story really beautiful and emotionally good 🥺🥺 as expected from Jasmine wrote beautifully story and I really love Jude how she's not look strong outside but she brave and strong girl that I know. 💙💙💙 


  "You will belong here. You will belong wherever you want. You will make anywhere beautiful".

New York Times bestseller and Newbery Honor Book! A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States, 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.

Catarina Silva

Steph L 

A Fantastic Middle-Grade Contemporary 

This book was so good! I loved the characters, especially the main character Jude. I loved the story, I thought it was excellent, and I was interested throughout. The writing was excellent and worked well to tell the story. I recommend this for anyone who loves Contemporary.

mighty dragon 

Sabrina D. 

Kim Tyo-Dickerson

Cannot wait to introduce Jude and her loving Syrian family to my Grade 6 Newbery Reading Challenge readers next week and share excerpts and poems from this immersive, bittersweet coming of age Novel in Verse. I am from Ohio and spent a lot of time in college traveling from Oxford up the road at Miami University to the Clifton neighborhood near the University of Cincinnati campus. Stately homes like Jude's Uncle's house on tree-lined streets, running over to funky restaurants and shops like her friend Layla's Middle-Eastern family restaurant, it all came racing back. The limitations of certain Southwestern Ohio citizens are also, unfortunately, very familiar. Knowing that as a Newbery Honor book Other Words for Home will be read for many, many years to come and will continue to celebrate the humanity in everyone wherever they are from is a true gift.

Nadine 

An excellent middle grade read. Very much like the protagonist and her strength. Slightly reminiscent of "George" in that it's also set around a school play.
Also liked the fact that it bucked the "poor" immigrant without resources meme making it more relatable to my school's reality.

Caroline Lewicki

I thought this collection of poetry about a young Syrian refugee was really sweet and captured a lot of what being a middle schooler is like, with the added challenge of not speaking a new language, having to fit in, and adapting to a new surrounding. My only complaint is that Jude’s voice seems a little mature for a seventh grader, even with all of her life experience. I had to keep reminding myself that the character was so young. I would have liked to feel that I was reading a younger person’s voice.

Eilidh 

This was a great book. I really feel like I learned a lot from it and it made me think about what I've done in the past. 

Other Words for Home tells the story of a young girl who has to leave her home to escape a war leaving half of her family behind. The story teaches us so much while it tells the story of her learning English, growing up and dealing with Islamaphobia. 

I think that this book should be a required read for everyone no matter their age because I think that everyone could learn something from the messages it holds.

Elizabeth Garza

I found this book to be heartfelt and heartbreaking. It was wonderful to read about the life of Jude (pronounced joo-dah). She was a Syrian girl recently immigrated to America, fleeing a Syria that was quickly becoming more war-torn as time went on. Jude as a character is kind, thoughtful, resilient, driven and brave. Sure, she's still a child (she's in 7th grade) but she has eyes that see and observe the heart to ignore push past all the bad and still go for what she wants - a part in the school musical. This book gave me a lot of feels, and I was so happy at the end, even though there wasn't a traditional resolution for the story. There was hope though. Tons and tons of hope.

Candyce Kirk

Nikki K

4.5
such a beautiful, sad, important, hopeful story. 
i just found the structure of the verse a bit off at times

Anna Leigh

This book is definitely one that everyone should read at some point. I listened to the Audiobook for this (which is only 3 hours long) and was absolutely blown away at this amazing story.

This book portrays such an important message and definitely leaves an impact. It was so beautifully written and the narrator, Vaneh Assadourian, did such an amazing job portraying Jude's point of view. 

This 100% deserves a 5 star rating and if you haven't picked this up yet, either physical or audio, I would highly reccomend you do. This shows so much of what goes on in a Syrian family trying to just live a safe and happy life.

Salam Kabbani

Other Words for Home is a must read for all audiences and all ages. 

Jude and her mom make the hard decision of leaving their home in Syria because it is no longer safe to be there. Her father and brother cannot join them; however, making the move even harder for them. When Jude moves to live with her uncle's family in Cincinnati, Ohio her whole world is shifted. Her cousin Sarah is not very welcoming and openly ashamed of Jude and her broken English. Jude is having a hard time fitting in with the culture and when she starts to adjust and feel comfortable in the US, she is torn between loving Syria and the USA and is unsure if it is acceptable to love both and belong to both countries. 

The author does a really great job of letting us live with Jude day by day and moment by moment. We see her joys. We live her struggles. As a Muslim-American I faced and continue to face similar struggles at time, and having that acknowledged made me feel so seen and validated my pain. For example, when Jude decides to wear the hijab, the Islamic head covering, her aunt Michelle is hesitant to believe that this is Jude's personal choice and that she is not being forced to wear it by her mom, despite them all living in the same house and her aunt Michelle being able to see it all. This rang true for me, because no matter how clearly independent I have always been, it seemed like some people would never believe that it's my choice. One of my favorite quotes from the book: "I want women like aunt Michelle to understand that it is not only women who look like them who are free who think and care about other women. That it is possible for two things to look similar but be completely different." 

We learn about her ESL class and all the unique moments she shares with her other classmates that are also adapting to American culture. We learn about the microaggressions she faces in school by her cousin and her group of friends and how they think she is "weird" and we follow the story through to see their perspective gradually shift as they got to know Jude and as she also learned to express and demonstrate her confidence. We follow the struggles of one of her Arabic friends who feels like she doesn't truly belong to Lebanon or the USA and that is something that I felt growing up at times, which is a special kind of pain that only a dual citizen can experience. 

We also follow a very special friendship she has with one of her classmates and how he stands up for her when a neighbor is being racist. We follow their friendship develop and it is a rewarding part of the story. 

I could go on and on; however, ultimately in a world torn apart by wars, we have vast immigration and now more than ever us humans should be working to bridge any gaps and understand one another. This piece of literature provides a great depiction of things that Syrian migrants may experience in America and helps the reader become more sensitive and empathetic.

CW: war, racism, family separation, Islamophobia.

Jeni Enjaian

Someone please explain how this book did not make the SCLA (South Carolina Librarians Association) nominee list for Junior Book club awards. I added this book to my list after a rather prescient suggestion from some algorithm when I added "Genesis Begins Again."
Warga's poetical prose drew me in and kept me reading. She deftly captures Jude's thoughts, emotions, and complex life and weaves it together in a narrative easy enough for middle schooler's to understand but challenging enough to spark discussion amongst adults.
I absolutely loved this beautiful book.

Anjana Madhusoodanan

Makayla Reed

This book is so powerful. I got emotional at times because I see the ways in which America tries to keep refugees out of this country and it is heartbreaking.

I loved this book for many reasons, but I think the main reason this book is impactful is the honesty of Jude's thoughts and the way she sees her home back in Syria and her potential new home in America. You can feel Jude's raw emotions through the pages of this book and I think it really brings the experience of this novel in verse to life. The verses are written beautifully and there are so many great quotes about how America categorizes people and things as well as beautiful quotes about being brave and being Muslim in America.

A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States, 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.

Ashley Moncayo

This is such a beautiful book. I’m so happy I read it ♥

alexandra &
Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

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