Thrust into chaos, Amina and her family endure wretched refugee camps, risk dangerous ocean crossings and escape jihadist militias to reach safety.
The Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teens 2021
Escape from Syria is both a very human drama and an informative account of the socio-poltical complexities of life in the region... Kullab effectively condenses involved subject matter into understandable summaries without compromising the integrity of her storytelling... Jackie Roche's art is accessible throughout with her expressive depiction of the cast playing a large role in the audience's empathetic connection with them. While her visual storytelling adopts a largely traditional use of layouts those moments of high drama are rendered all the more dramatic for their sudden use of unconventional panel arrangements. This is highly effective in communicating the trauma and panic of the opening explosion scene, for example, or a later sequence where a boat full of refugees capsizes... Mike Freiheit's often carefully subdued colouring choices also add to the book's tense atmosphere... This is an excellent starting point for a younger demographic in understanding both the underlying reasons behind the news stories and the plight of those impacted.
Broken Frontier - Andy Oliver
Escape from Syria gives a very personalized account of the Syrian crisis with a balanced approach and art that is deceivingly simple. The topic is timely and while the scenes may be specific, the themes of fear, families, home, and loss are universal. Perhaps as a credit to the author's journalism background, any sentimentality comes across as genuine and unforced.
The Cybils 2018 - John Mutford
Roche's artwork will appeal to young adults for its stark realism. This is an important attempt to explain the background of the war in Syria and the problems faced by those who try to escape its horrors.
Winnipeg Free Press - Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson
Readers will experience the Syrian refugee crisis through Amina's eyes and will identify with her feelings of fear and unease, her ambition to succeed in school and her horror when her mother suggests she marry at 13. Roche's artwork is clean and crisp and uses varying background colour palettes throughout the book to convey specific emotions. Roche's skill at capturing emotion in facial expressions also creates a deep impact. Escape from Syria is an intense but timely read, and can be used by teachers and parents as a tool to discuss war, displacement, racism and tragedy. It is an authentic portrayal of the refugee experience and deeply relevant to Canada's role in helping displaced Syrians.
Canadian Children's Book News - Scott Robins
Kullab based this graphic novel on her personal observations from reporting in Syria. She does not shy away from difficult issues... Facts about the Syrian situation are interwoven into the story to help readers understand the political and economic circumstances that led to the refugee crisis... Tells a story of survival and hope.
Professionally Speaking - Margaret Grift
A fictionalized graphic novel account that calls on real-life circumstances and true tales of refugee families to serve as a microcosm of the Syrian uprising and the war and refugee crisis that followed... Samya Kullab is a journalist based in the Middle East covering security, politics and refugees. Jackie Roche is a freelance cartoonist and illustrator. They seamlessly collaborate in "Escape from Syria", where Kullab's narrative masterfully maps both the collapse and destruction of Syria, and the real-life tragedies faced by its citizens still today. The family's escape from their homeland makes for a harrowing tale, but with their safe arrival in the West it serves as a hopeful endnote to this ongoing worldwide crisis. A fascinating, informative, and truly memorable story, "Escape from Syria" is an especially recommended addition to personal reading lists, as well as community and academic library collections. This is one of those graphic novels that will linger in the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf.
In this harrowing and timely tale of courage and determination, Amina narrates her family's odyssey after their home in Aleppo is destroyed. They must endure refugee camps, risk ocean crossings and escape the terror of jihadist militias in order to reach safety in Canada.
Canadian Children's Book News - Meghan Howe
Superior book everyone should buy.
Puget Sound Council for the Review of Children's and Young Adult Literature - Rhetta Fisk
(starred) A gripping portrait of an ongoing worldwide crisis.
The Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teens 2018
Despite dealing with weighty political issues, the book is highly accessible and would be a useful introduction to students interested in learning more about the Syrian conflict. In an appendix, Kullab also expands on many of the issues mentioned throughout the text, providing appropriate context to a complex situation... This is an important book that provides a humanizing look at the horrific experiences of Syrian refugees and their quest for freedom.
Resource Links - Natalie Colaiacovo
A fictional graphic novel that is very much realistic... The author does a fantastic job of making us see the options refugees have and understand the sacrifices that must be made in different cases for security purposes.
Hit or Miss Books Blog - Lola
(starred) A gripping portrait of an ongoing worldwide crisis.
The Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books f
05/01/2019
Gr 7 Up— Kullab brings the stark reality of Syrian refugees to light in this heartbreaking graphic novel inspired by real people and events. Readers view the conflict over the course of several years through the eyes of Amina, a fictional character. This eye-opening account will spark classroom discussions on current events.
★ 2017-08-27 In Aleppo City, in 2013, young Amina's life is changed forever when a bomb destroys her neighborhood and her family joins the millions of refugees fleeing Syria. In this graphic novel, Amina uses flashbacks and spare text to narrate her journey from living a happy life in Syria to resettling in Canada as a refugee. Amina is a bright student whose favorite part of the day is returning home from school, where she is greeted warmly by her grandfather and then reads books in the home of her uncle, a professor. This life ends with an explosion on the second page. Her family flees to Lebanon, where they end up in a refugee camp when their savings run out. Amina is lucky to get a spot in the overcrowded schools, but when her brother falls ill, the family must make a series of heartbreaking decisions in order to pay for his lifesaving medications. When the stress of renewing expensive visas becomes too much and unethical smugglers make life impossible, Amina finally finds help with a resettling agency. The story wraps up quickly from there. Based on Kullab's extensive experience with refugees, the novel skillfully depicts situations and drastic decisions many Syrian refugees face. The graphic-novel format is perfect for the story, using cinematic techniques to propel the story and adding poignant notes, as when Amina's father reads a text message asking for help and conceals it from her. Extensive endnotes highlight the true events referenced in the book. Groundbreaking and unforgettable. (Graphic historical fiction. 12-17)
[Review of hardcover edition:] In 2014, a phrase was anonymously spray-painted on a wall in Homs, Syria: "When I leave, be sure I tried everything in my power to stay." This poignant graffiti reverberates throughout Escape from Syria... Jackie Roche's drawings and Mike Freiheit's colour work add intensity and solidify the strong emotional engagement Kullab creates. Feelings of anger and fear are conveyed beautifully with thick black brush strokes where the page's white gutter usually lies... There are big visual moments in Escape From Syria, but the subtle ones are even more effective.
Quill and Quire - Ardo Omer
[Review of hardcover edition:] In Escape from Syria, Kullab creates a composite young Syrian girl, Amina, a straight-A student from a solid middle-class family. Amina, her younger brother, and her parents flee Aleppo with only what they can carry. In Lebanon, they struggle to make ends meet in a UNHCR camp. Amina leaves school to work, the family stops renewing their visas, and her brother falls ill. Amina's family is one of the lucky few; eventually, they are recommended by a UN worker to be relocated and are resettled in Canada. The author clearly has an agenda: show every bad thing that is happening (or has happened) to Syrian refugees in a clear format that can be read by a wide-ranging audience. An appendix provides references and statistics to back up each event... It is easily accessible, authoritative, and well documented, and would be appropriate as an entry-level volume into recent Syrian history for a wide-ranging audience.
[Review of hardcover edition:] Escape from Syria is a testament to the resilience of human beings, despite the chaos of war. In addition to the physical deprivations of life in a refugee camp, and the emotional and social dislocation which comes with leaving one's country, readers see the constant anxiety and fear that comes with living in a state of siege and of profound insecurity. Amina displays strength and courage beyond her years... Jackie Roche's illustrations add another layer of understanding to Amina's account of "how we came to be here, in a country so different and far from our own... Although the intended audience for Escape from Syria is listed by the publisher as 12 plus, I think that it is more likely that the content would be of interest to senior high school students of World Issues or those with a strong interest in international politics. And, in schools with a Syrian refugee population, it might be a valuable outreach tool for teachers and other students, telling that group's story in way that provides a bit of safe distance. Highly recommended for senior high school libraries and as a resource for teachers of world history and current world issues.
Canadian Review of Materials - Joanne Peters
[Review of hardcover edition:] It is important for middle and high school students (and adults as well) to read this story. It puts a face, albeit imagined, to the very real circumstances that force people to leave everything they have always known and make a new life. It is powerfully told and provides a face for them to remember as they listen to continuing news reports. Heartbreaking and hopeful, memorable and mind-boggling.
Sal's Fiction Addiction Blog
[Review of hardcover edition:] The book describes with precision what is happening to refugees in the camps, bringing us to meet many different refugees with different points of view on the situation. What particularly impressed me was the author's courage in addressing a number of political topics, such as how the roots of the war lie in the time of Hafez al-Assad, who came to power in a military coup in 1970, and the repression suffered by the Syrian people under his reign and that of his son Bashar. It describes the suffering of citizens living under Daesh who went from the frying pan into the fire with great tenderness. I was left feeling nothing but a deep sympathy for the family of Walid. I felt like I was there with them; feeling their grief and their fear, as though I were one of them... The illustrations are evocative, and you can tell what a character is thinking by looking at their features. You will also 'feel' the beauty of Aleppo before the war, and the sorrow of what happened to it during the conflict... The book was a worthy experience, and at the end the reader will be even more sympathetic with Syrian refugees, wherever they are.
Oye! Times - Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi
[Review of hardcover edition:] The family's suffering is horrifying and heartbreaking, but the characters' resourcefulness and strength bring hope to their tale of hardship... This book succeeds in offering information alongside a compelling narrative, all the while keeping the focus on the characters and their relationships. Back matter includes photographs that put moments from the story in historical context.
Horn Book Magazine - Elisa Gall
[Review of hardcover edition:] This is a powerful, eye-opening graphic novel that will foster empathy and understanding in readers of all ages.
The Globe and Mail - Shannon Ozirny
[Review of hardcover edition:] My heart is low and cracked after reading this graphic novel. It is important and beautiful. But it is heartbreaking and real. The story of this family, their journey from home to refugee to new home is almost too hard to read. Samya Kullab and Jackie Roche have done an unbelievable job crafting this piece of historical fiction.
[hardcover edition:] Winner, Children's Choice Award, 12-16 years old
School Library Association
[Review of hardcover edition:] Uses striking images and powerful words to map the difficult journey a family makes as they flee Aleppo out of fear for their lives and describe their struggle to survive as refugees. This book provides direct connections to current events involving refugees and helps counter stereotypes that many people have about the reasons why people become refugees. I recommend the book to students who are interested in the current refugee crisis and want something accessible and quick to read.