About this item
Heartbreak and hope exist together in this remarkable graphic novel about growing up in a refugee camp, as told by a 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.
About the Author
I grew up in Havertown, Pennsylvania, where I wrote and illustrated my first book in the third grade. SUPER COW! was a smash hit both with critics (my teacher) and collectors (my parents) .When I was twelve years old, my family moved to Florida. My parents tried to get me and my two brothers excited about our move by buying us season passes to Disney World. I loved watching the animators at work on the Backstage Tour, and I decided I wanted to work for Disney when I grew up. I attended the Rhode Island School of Design, but soon found myself drawn back towards illustration instead of animation. After graduation and a slew of ill-fated careers (including a portrait artist on a Carnival Cruise ship and a conductor of illegal tours through the Vatican Museums) , I began working as a book designer with a children's book publisher in New York. I live in Pennsylvania with my husband, son, and surly cat Sharon.
