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Jasmine Warga

Författare till Other Words for Home

7+ verk 2,275 medlemmar 124 recensioner

Verk av Jasmine Warga

Other Words for Home (2019) 1,100 exemplar
My Heart and Other Black Holes (2015) — Författare — 769 exemplar
A Rover's Story (2022) 176 exemplar
The Shape of Thunder (2021) 151 exemplar
Here We Are Now (2017) 77 exemplar

Associerade verk

Dear Heartbreak: YA Authors and Teens on the Dark Side of Love (2018) — Bidragsgivare — 57 exemplar
Battle of the Bands (2021) — Bidragsgivare — 44 exemplar
House Party (Joy Revolution) (2023) — Bidragsgivare — 14 exemplar

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Födelsedag
1988-04-24
Kön
female
Nationalitet
USA
Födelseort
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Bostadsorter
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Medlemmar

Recensioner

Representation: Asian and Black characters
Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, blood and death of people mentioned, disappearance of a brother, racism, pregnancy
Score: Eight points out of ten.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.

Before I read Other Words for Home, I was at a crossroad. On one hand, I had high expectations, considering this book was initially my first one from Jasmine Warga before someone transferred it and then I had to read The Shape of Thunder (which I enjoyed.) On the other, my recent poetry reads were misses, other than a few gems. Fortunately, when I finally finished Other Words for Home, it was delightful, but heavy.

It starts with the first person I see, Jude, living a peaceful life in Syria with her family during the opening pages. Once the country got too volatile and chaotic, Jude had to move to her relatives in Ohio, America, leaving her father and brother behind. Initially, Jude hasn't acclimatised to America yet and is not used to the new labels people call her like Syrian and Middle Eastern. Jude eventually adjusts herself to her new surroundings, living in her new home and going to a new American school to make friends. Interestingly, she has two English classes: English and ESL (English as a Second Language,) where Jude finds new people to befriend. Jude's subsequent chapter in her life is mostly uneventful, save for the school play auditions and the subtle racist attacks she experiences. I liked everything about Other Words for Home: the excellent poetry and the likable and relatable characters. Toward the concluding pages, Jude reunites with her family through a screen, meets her long-lost brother and gets into the performance, finishing the narrative on a high note.

Addendum: Coincidentally, Other Words for Home combines the titles of two other novels I read: The Other Side of Tomorrow and The Horses Didn't Come Home, both of which were satisfying to read. To summarise, Other Words for Home initially looked promising and when I closed the final page, it was a gratifying reading experience.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
Law_Books600 | 65 andra recensioner | Feb 26, 2024 |
Summary
Jude and her mother move to America amid the Syrian war. They left behind Jude’s brother and father. Living with their relatives in Cincinnati, Jude has to adapt to her new world. She has to find the balance between her new world in America and keeping true to her Middle Eastern identity she grew up with.

Review
What a beautiful story about a young girl and her new life in America. Through beautifully written verse your heart is filled with the happiness, struggle, and strength of this young woman. I absolutely loved it. I think it could truly be the intermediate Nutmeg winner this year.

It was so easy to relate to her struggle adapting to a new world as a teacher. I observe daily the challenges ESL students face. Although so many students, like Miles, are welcoming and kind, sometimes there are unkind actions or misunderstandings between children and people of other cultures. Just like in this text sometimes their actions and comments are intentional, and other times out of ignorance of the culture or person.

This book reminds me of Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate. It is a text I read aloud each year to my 5th graders as a part of our fictional themes unit. It is also written in verse. Kek is a young boy who also grew up around the Syrian war in which he lost his father and brother. Both stories address the challenges young children face when assimilating into a new country and culture. It addressed the challenges they face with peers, adults, and personal identity.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
Booksonthehammock | 65 andra recensioner | Feb 13, 2024 |
See full review & more here!

Sometimes it feels like when I boarded that plane
to fly to America
I left my heart behind,
beating and lonely on the other side of the ocean.


Oh, this is a wonderful book. One thing I kept thinking was "I definitely have to have this in my classroom. Maybe even used as a class read!" That, and that I should recommend it to Clarissa!

A novel in verse is so approachable. You get a little bit of the poetic element in the writing style and format, but still the fairly clear language and imagery. For readers who might struggle a bit, the short lines are a godsend. Yet, you still get SO much out of them, and Other Words for Home is a perfect example of that. The writing is as gorgeous as the cover, but is also hilarious and so descriptive that you'll actually cringe reading lines like:

Today the air is so soupy
that it feels like I am living inside
someone else's mouth.


You really get inside Jude's heart, and the compassion and empathy that can help create is so critical these days. It sort of breaks your heart and puts it back together again. In terms of the plot itself, solidly developed and mingles the darkness and fear with the determination that so many refugees and immigrants feel (I imagine).
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
Jenniferforjoy | 65 andra recensioner | Jan 29, 2024 |
This is a 2024 Lone Star selection.

Okay--I thought this book was non-fiction. When I'm reading all of the Lone Star novels, I read absolutely NOTHING about them. I open the book and start reading. Well, I was listening to this book and assumed it was a personified version of the actual rover that went to Mars. Nope--it's fiction, but the scientific information is correct. Good thing I listen to the notes at the end! Let me also say that I hated the book when I started it because I don't enjoy science. I have nothing against science and respect how science changes the world; I trust scientists. I don't want to read about science. At all. By the end of the book, I felt invested and wanted Resilience to achieve his goals.

This Rover feels human emotions from its birth and wants to make the hazmats proud of him. He calls the humans Hazmats because of their suits, and he particularly connects with two people. One is Rania; she has a daughter, Sophie, who writes to the rover, named Resilience (not the name she wanted) beginning when she is twelve. The book ends with Sophie at the age of 33. Sophie's purpose is to tell what's going on because Resilience has a limited view of his clean lab. Sophie can tell the reader how long the rover has been gone, what's going on with the scientists and keep us grounded on earth.

Resilience makes friends with another robot, named Journey, and is surprised when Journey stays on earth and Resilience will be the one who goes to Mars. We see the lab from his point of view; he likes music and wants to talk to his scientists, especially Rania, but he can't. We learn a lot about the rover program and why it's important along with Resilience. He has a friend who will travel with him, Fly. Fly is a drone. When they eventually make it to Mars, you learn a lot about Mars, but it isn't boring. Resilience (many call him Res) wants to do the best job he can and get samples that will make NASA bring him back to earth. It's at this point where I was thinking, "They've brought a rover back from Mars? I didn't know that! How would one do that? Well, they've never accomplished this feat.

Seriously, it's not a bad way to learn and I was very invested by the end. The story is completely from Res's and Sophie's points of view. Enjoy!
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
acargile | 10 andra recensioner | Jan 23, 2024 |

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Statistik

Verk
7
Även av
4
Medlemmar
2,275
Popularitet
#11,283
Betyg
4.1
Recensioner
124
ISBN
80
Språk
8

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