Booktalk #1

When Omar was four years old, the soldiers came…

In the rush to escape his small village in Somalia, his family is forever changed---his father is killed, his mother disappears, and he is left to care for his small brother, Hassan.

This is the story of their lives in a refugee camp in Kenya, where each day brings the challenge of getting enough food and water, staying safe, and the difficulties of caring for Hassan. It’s also a story of love---the strong love between these two brothers, and the care they receive from the people that help them. And it’s a story of hope—that someday, they will be reunited with their mother: that someday, they will walk out of the refugee camp to a better life, together.

Read When Stars Are Scattered, and you will learn about a place that is very different from New Hampshire. You will love getting to know these characters. And who knows? Maybe you’ll discover that when it comes to wanting what’s best for our families, we’re not so different after all. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Book Award nominee, 2022)

Booktalk #2

Based on the true story of a Somali boy and his brother in a Kenyan refugee camp, this graphic novel chronicles the struggles they faced each day as well as the hope and endurance that life could get better. (Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award 2021-2022)

Booktalk #3

Omar and his younger brother Hassan escaped war-torn Somalia and for much of their young lives have called Dadaab, a refugee camp, home. Life there is hard. Families live for years in the camp, in hopes that some nation will allow them to emigrate and build a new life. Omar is resilient and resourceful, but without parents, he is also responsible for the care of his non-verbal brother. Can he continue to hold on to hope, shoulder responsibility, and take all the right steps to find them both a new place to call home - even as he can only watch as dear friends become resigned to a refugee life? (Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, 2022)