Sami, 13, has grown up an average middle-class Syrian boy, playing video games and hanging out with his best friend Joseph. Though much of the country has been torn apart by civil war, Damascus, Sami's home, has remained intact thus far. That changes, however, with terrifying news: the shopping center has been bombed--with Sami's mother and sister Sara inside. Though they survive the blast, the family decides to seek refugee status in England, realizing how precarious their situation in Syria has become. Dassu's accessible debut follows Sami and his family along their sweeping journey from Syria, through Turkey and Greece, to Manchester in the U.K. There, Sami struggles with past guilt amid the new environment, away from the luxuries of the home he was forced to leave behind. The novel explores Sami's preference for his Syrian life over his U.K. one, in which he must share a room with a bullying cousin and believes that his professional parents are "losing their self-respect"; Dassu presents a well-balanced portrayal of the range of attitudes a refugee might encounter. Though the fast-paced plot occasionally skips over narrative details, strongly evoked themes of family, homesickness, and friendship cohere in this resonant portrait of one teen's contemporary refugee experience. Back matter includes a glossary and author's note. Ages 9--14. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. (Apr.)

Sami is an ordinary eighth-grader who loves playing football and PlayStation with his best friend. That will likely sound familiar to many readers of this novel, but there's a difference: Sami lives in Damascus, Syria, as it's plunging into civil war. Smoke billowing in the distance is embedded into everyday life, but it isn't until Sami's mom and young sister are almost killed that the danger hits home. With the war inching closer to their city, the al-Hafez family flee their comfortable life in Damascus to seek refuge in the UK--that is, if the journey doesn't break them first. This raw, heartbreaking middle-grade debut faces the Syrian refugee crisis head-on. Many will recall the horrifying images from the Syrian refugee crisis, from the dusty rubble of once-bustling cities to the drowned victims who washed up on the Turkish coast. Dassu knits those realities into the story of the al-Hafez family, giving voice to countless refugees who didn't want to leave their homeland but were left no choice.The pace is fast; the family goes from being well-off one moment to having no status the next. Seeking asylum, held in a detention center, experiencing homelessness--the blows are unabating, but they're nevertheless interspersed with small joys. This isn't an easy read, but it's an absolutely essential one.

A Syrian refugee story that disrupts stereotypes while tugging at readers' heartstrings. Sami is your average 13-year-old boy growing up in Damascus. He loves playing soccer and video games and hanging out with his friends. Even though the Syrian civil war has been going on for many years, Sami's life has hardly changed…until the fateful day when his mother and sister are injured during a bombing at a shopping mall. Realizing they are no longer safe, Sami's parents--a surgeon and a school principal--arrange to flee, seeking asylum in England. The journey is not an easy one, as Sami and his family face danger, intimidation, and discrimination as they try to reach England and rebuild their lives. Dassu carefully creates a story that embodies, through relatable and realistic characters, the spirit of Syrian refugees hoping to find safety and self-sufficiency. Descriptions of modern-day Damascus accurately blend tradition and modernity, religion and culture. The most compelling element is Sami's voice as he struggles with not only becoming a refugee, but guilt over having asked his mother to go to the mall to pick up his soccer cleats on the day of the bombing. He authentically conveys the thoughts of a teenage boy trying to cope with anxiety and loss; likewise, the pride and hope of Syrian refugees are brought to life through Sami's eyes. Compelling, informative, hopeful. (map, author's note, glossary) (Fiction. 11-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.