When Stars Are Scattered

"This is a graphic novel that was adapted into audio. That can be a real trick, because if you think about how a graphic novel works, you get so much information from the images that you’re seeing. The book has a full cast to make this story really come to life. You get a sense of what it feels like from the dialogue, but you also have a soundscape—so you are hearing what it’s like to be in this refugee camp. This is a book that’s definitely for slightly older readers, I would say eight to 12 years and older. It’s inspired by a refugee from Somalia, Omar Mohamed, who is one of the co-authors. It’s roughly the story of him growing up in a refugee camp in Kenya and trying to get to safety in America. It’s about spending so many years there, waiting. His voice is narrated by Faysal Ahmed who has a very quiet sort of voice. I think that reflects the character very well. He really wants to go to school. He’s a young child, but he’s also responsible for taking care of his younger brother, because they got separated from their mom and they saw their father die. It’s a really heartbreaking story. It’s one that you certainly would also really want to talk through with your kids. Sign up here for our newsletter featuring the best children’s and young adult books, as recommended by authors, teachers, librarians and, of course, kids. I have the graphic novel too. Omar Mohamed wrote the book with Victoria Jamieson. She wrote Roller Girl , which was a popular graphic novel. They got connected to each other and wrote this story. When you read the graphic novel, you have all this imagery, but when you’re listening to the audiobook, you’re hearing the crowd all talking. The main character is called Omar, like the author. You can hear him talking to his younger brother, Hassan. Hassan has a developmental disability. He’s a very sweet character but it’s also challenging for Omar, because Hassan runs away and gets lost in this giant camp, but they do have others to help them. It’s just such an amazing story. I listened to it before I read the book in print and got that sense of what it was like with all the tents in the camp, all the different people that they meet and they’re friends with, their community that’s there. One of the interesting parts of this book is that you can really hear how much they all care for each other. They did a great job with the narrations. I’m not sure how many years he spent in this camp before being able to leave to go to America, but even though it’s an unstable place to be in, that’s where they were comfortable and that’s where they grew up. Then they leave all those people behind to go to a new country. Yes, the full cast and all the sound effects definitely makes for that cinematic feel when you’re listening. It makes it so you really are transported into that situation. So much of it is about waiting. You get that sense too, of the passage of time over the years. They’re just waiting to hear back if their application was accepted. They’re seeing other families leave and just wanting to have that certainty but also wanting to figure out how to get reconnected to their mom. If they leave the refugee camp how will that happen? They are. I think it’s closely tied to his life. There were some characters that they made up in the story to give it a different kind of narrative. It’s about a young boy, but he has some friends who are younger girls and it shows what it’s like for them. There’s pressure on them to not keep being in school and to focus on getting married. I think they handled that very well."