Samira Surfs by Rukhsanna Guidroz

Samira Surfs by Rukhsanna Guidroz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I so enjoyed this middle grade novel in verse about Samira and her family who flee from Burma to Bangladesh while she valiantly tries to repair her trauma of the journey, losing her grandparents and slowly rebuild her life. With her brother, she learns the alphabet and how to read; she makes friends, learns to swim and surf, while keeping it a secret from her parents. I rooted for Samira, loved the illustrations, and think kids who read this will be encouraged to try surfing! There was beauty in learning about her culture, sadness in sharing her losses with her friends, and seeing how the townspeople react to others being persecuted (her people, the Rohingya) and moving into their town.

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The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book as part of my Albright College book club and this was chosen by Sue Murphy Bonnewell. As much as I am drawn to Holocaust books, during this time of Covid, I found myself putting the book down because it was so horrific hearing Mika's hellish story of her life in the concentration camps. It was interesting reading her book she was writing and reading to her best friend about a devil... I think Sage is a very flawed human being but I liked her and wanted her to find happiness and not settle because she thought so little of herself. I LOVED Leo and his passion for Nazi hunting, his interest in Sage and her story, then her grandmother's story; it was all so mesmerizing, but devastating! Jodi Picoult wrote novel I very much wanted to put down but could not; very thoroughly researched!!!

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Internment by Samira Ahmed

Internment by Samira Ahmed
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a tough but important read! I loved the cover of this book, too! Layla's plight was so awful; she will not be silent but she is fearful at the same time---but that does not stop her from resisting the horrible predicament of being relocated into an internment camp with her parents because their religion is Muslim. I kept putting this book down because it was scary and oh so believable. Ahmed's near future in this book is all too real given the current political climate in our world today. The brutality of the Director and his Security soldiers gave me nightmares; I ached for Layla and what she endures---but it is Layla and her friends and the hope they have for a better world that kept this future nightmare world as a symbol of how important freedom is today and everyday. A must read!

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