When Stars Are Scattered

by Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed, Iman Geddy (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Omar Mohamed was only four years old when he fled to a Kenyan refugee camp from war-torn Somalia with only his little brother in tow. Accompanied with Victoria Jamieson’s brilliant graphic artwork, When Stars Are Scattered is a remarkable true account of Omar’s childhood growing up in the camp, raising his little brother and dreaming of a better life for them both. A heartbreaking, hopeful, eye-opening must-read for all ages.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525553908
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/14/2020
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	2,218
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	GN530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Victoria Jamieson is the co-creator of the National Book Award finalist When Stars Are Scattered and the creator of the graphic novels All's Faire in Middle School and Newbery Honor winner Roller Girl. She received her BFA in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and worked as a children's book designer before becoming a freelance illustrator. She has also worked as a portrait artist aboard a cruise ship, and has lived in Australia, Italy, and Canada. Now she lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and son.

Omar Mohamed is co-creator of the National Book Award finalist When Stars Are Scattered, based on his childhood growing up in the Dadaab refugee camp, after his father was killed and he was separated from his mother in Somalia. He devoted everything to taking care of his younger brother, Hassan, and to pursuing his education. He now lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with his wife and five children, and is the founder of Refugee Strong, a non-profit organization that empowers students living in refugee camps.

Iman Geddy, the colorist for this book, is an Atlanta-based designer and illustrator who is passionate about using the graphic arts for social good. Inspired by the geometric harmony of Islamic architecture as well as the colorful equatorial landscapes of eastern Africa, she creates striking art that highlights the beauty of the world around us.

Editorial Reviews

Late in When Stars Are Scattered, 17-year-old Omar Mohamed is asked to write a paper on "What It Means to Be a Refugee" for what he complains must be the 20th time since he started school six years earlier. Consider this fantastic graphic novel to be his 21st—and definitive—word on the subject…Jamieson and Mohamed don't shy away from the harder realities of life in the refugee camp…But for all its grim authenticity, When Stars Are Scattered is ultimately optimistic…Jamieson's lively, charismatic art and Mohamed's remarkable life story will make young readers care about Omar and Hassan—and perhaps do something to help the millions of other refugees still languishing in camps around the world.

The New York Times Book Review - Alan Gratz

★ 03/02/2020

Based on coauthor Mohamed’s childhood after fleeing Somalia on foot with his younger brother, this affecting graphic novel follows the brothers’ life in a Kenyan refugee camp. Though loving foster mother Fatuma cares for the boys, Mohamed watches out for his largely nonverbal younger brother, Hassan, who experiences occasional seizures, and is fearful of leaving him even to attend school. Mohamed longs to find their biological mother, and—like nearly everyone in the vast camp—waits for a life-changing, seemingly arbitrary UN interview that will determine whether the boys will be resettled, perhaps in the U.S. or Canada. Jamieson and Mohamed together craft a cohesive, winding story that balances daily life and boredom, past traumas, and unforeseen outcomes alongside camp denizens’ ingenuity and community. Expressive, memorable characters by Jamieson (Roller Girl) work and play against backdrops of round-topped UN tents, while colorist Iman Geddy’s deep purple skies drive home the title. The result of this team effort is a personal and poignant entry point for young readers trying to understand an unfair world. Back matter includes photographs of the brothers and authors’ notes. Ages 9–12. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

A New York Times Bestseller
National Book Award Finalist
Schneider Family Book Award, Middle School Honor
YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens
YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Nominee
Walter Award Winner (Younger Readers)
Amazon Best Children’s Book of 2020
New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book
TIME Best Book of the Year
School Library Journal Best Book of 2020
Kirkus Best Children’s Book of 2020
NYPL Best Book for Kids
NPR's Book Concierge Pick
Jane Addams Children's Book Award Finalist
Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book
2021 ALSC Notable Children’s Books List
2021 Children’s Africana Book Award Honor Book
2021 Josette Frank Award Winner
2021 Notable Books for a Global Society List
2021 Kids’ Book Choice Award Winner

★ "Jamieson's characteristically endearing art, warmly colored by Geddy, perfectly complements Omar's story, conjuring memorable and sympathetic characters who will stay with readers long after they close the book . . . This engaging, heartwarming story does everything one can ask of a book, and then some.” —Kirkus, starred review

★ "With this sensitive and poignant tale, Jamieson and Mohamed express the power of the human spirit to persevere." —School Library Journal, starred review

★ "Tragedy is certainly present throughout the story, yet Mohamed and Jamieson’s focus on deep familial love and education works to subvert many refugee stereotypes." —Horn Book, starred review

★ "Mohamed's experience is unfortunately not unique, but it is told with grace, humility, and forgiveness. This beautiful memoir is not to be missed." —Booklist, starred review

★ "Jamieson and Mohamed together craft a cohesive, winding story that balances daily life and boredom, past traumas, and unforeseen outcomes alongside camp denizens’ ingenuity and community . . . colorist Iman Geddy’s deep purple skies drive home the title. The result of this team effort is a personal and poignant entry point for young readers trying to understand an unfair world." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "The graphic novel presentation and first person narration from the young narrator creates an immediacy and connection with the events of the story. Readers are quickly drawn into Omar’s world and worry for him and his friends." —School Library Connection

"Over the next fifteen years chronicled in this moving, slightly fictionalized graphic novel, the boys grow to manhood in an overcrowded tent city . . . Jamieson’s artwork, affectionately depicting resilient kids who manage to carve out lives in a community with few solid prospects, reprises the inviting ebullience readers will recognize from Roller Girl and All’s Faire."  —BCCB


YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2020

Gr 4–8—Perennial comic book favorite Jamieson teams up with Mohamed, a Somalian refugee, to tell a heartbreaking story inspired by Mohamed's life. Cared for by kind Fatuma, an older woman who also lost her family, Omar and his little brother Hassan have lived in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya since they were small, when their father was killed and they were separated from their mother while fleeing civil war. Though Omar loves looking after Hassan, who is mostly nonverbal, life in the camp, where "it felt like all you ever did was wait," is stultifying and grindingly difficult. When Omar has the opportunity to attend school, he and his friends realize that they can increase their families' painfully slim chances at being chosen for resettlement. Heavier on text compared with Jamieson's usual fare, this title still features the expressive, gentle style of Roller Girl or All's Faire in Middle School—the language of cartoons makes the subject matter accessible to a middle grade audience. Indeed, the authors highlight moments of levity and sweetness as the children and their families do their best to carve out meaningful lives in the bleakest of circumstances. An afterword and author's notes go into greater detail about Mohamed's life, how the two met and decided to collaborate, which elements of the story are fictitious, and how to help other refugees. VERDICT With this sensitive and poignant tale, Jamieson and Mohamed express the power of the human spirit to perverse.—Darla Salva Cruz, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

School Library Journal

★ 2020-01-26
A Somali boy living in a refugee camp in Kenya tries to make a future for himself and his brother in this near memoir interpreted as a graphic novel by collaborator Jamieson.

Omar Mohamed lives in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya with his younger brother, Hassan, who has a seizure disorder, and Fatuma, an elderly woman assigned to foster them in their parents’ absence. The boys’ father was killed in Somalia’s civil war, prompting them to flee on foot when they were separated from their mother. They desperately hope she is still alive and looking for them, as they are for her. The book covers six years, during which Omar struggles with decisions about attending school and how much hope to have about opportunities to resettle in a new land, like the United States. Through Omar’s journey, and those of his friends and family members, readers get a close, powerful view of the trauma and uncertainty that attend life as a refugee as well as the faith, love, and support from unexpected quarters that get people through it. Jamieson’s characteristically endearing art, warmly colored by Geddy, perfectly complements Omar’s story, conjuring memorable and sympathetic characters who will stay with readers long after they close the book. Photographs of the brothers and an afterword provide historical context; Mohamed and Jamieson each contribute an author’s note.

This engaging, heartwarming story does everything one can ask of a book, and then some. (Graphic memoir. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews