cover image Escape from Syria

Escape from Syria

Samya Kullab, illus. by Jackie Roche. Firefly, $19.95 (96p) ISBN 978-1-77085-982-1

Written by a former reporter for the Lebanon Star and illustrated by Roche in stark, vivid panel sequences, this frank graphic novel opens in 2013 Aleppo as the neighborhood greengrocer greets studious Amina on her way home from school. Suddenly, everything is chaos as an explosion rips through the neighborhood. Though the political situation has been deteriorating, this event signals the end to Amina’s father: “Dad said all was lost. We had to leave.” In a camp in Lebanon, refugees from Syria are kept isolated. There’s little work and little food. Amina’s dreams of further education evaporate into a haze of debt and fear; a friend of hers is married at 13. When the family gets an offer to resettle in Canada, Amina’s mother hesitates; in a heartbreaking sequence, a bus trip back to Syria shows her that “home” doesn’t exist anymore, and she agrees to leave. Kullab’s story focuses less on emigration and more on the process by which ordinary families become the faceless refugees of news reports. When readers next hear news about Syria, they will likely remember Amina. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)