Other Words for Home

Other Words for Home

YA fiction
Right after Joey cat died my reading comprehension plunged. I
read three books without the ability to remember what I read or
describe it to someone else. Luckily I didn't panic. I knew that
just the right book would speak to me. Jasmine Warga's Other Words
for Home proved to be just the right book.
"Our city is on the sea. It sits below the mountains.
It is where the rest if Syria comes when they want to breathe.
No one is going to come this year, Fatima says."
Things are getting tense in Jude's household. Her beloved
brother, Issa, is talking about change and democracy.
"Issa says he wants to live in a country where
anyone can be
anyone
they want to be."
Their shipowner father, who, instead, wants safety and stability,
strongly disapproves.
"We live in a town that needs tourists.
Revolution
and war are not good
for business."
Jude feels her loyalties torn between two of the most important people
in her life.
Jude's community and nation reflect the division in her family.
In fact life in Syria has become so dangerous that one day her now
pregnant mother tells her they will be visiting her uncle in America.
Her father will not leave his store. Her brother will not leave his
freedom fighters.
Now Jude must leave her home, half her family, her life long
best friend, and everything she knows and loves to go to a very
strange place. She must, as Issa tells her, be brave, especially when
her mother learns that Issa has moved to a town near Aleppo.
"Even a girl like me,
a girl who likes movies more than news,
a girl who didn't pay
much attention to what was happening
knows Aleppo is synonymous with war."
Warga, herself, is part of a family split by an ocean. One day
in 2013 she met a friend's extended family just off the plane from
Syria. She watched Syrian and American cousins socialize. She got an
idea for a story she would write someday.
Someday came in 2016. The war in Syria had become front page
news.
"...More of the world was aware of what was happening, yet the
silence in response to the suffering of an entire population felt
deafening. Why didn't more people care? Why didn't more people want
to help?"
Stories move our minds and hearts in ways statistics can't.
Books like Other Words for Home can be strong inventives to care and
become involved.
On a purrrsonal note, at Wells we were really earning our money this
brunch. It was open house so we had lots of extra diners. In fact we
had 900-1000 hungry people, 600 of whom came through in the first
hour. Dishroom was a flurry of activity to get dishes and silverware
cleaned and back out in the serving area. When things got hectic we
got helpers including supervisor Loretta and manager Anna. When I
clocked out I was exhilerated and proud. Challenging shifts, when
carried out in the spirit of teamwork, can really bond people on a job
together. It's so good to work in such a place.
Great big shout outs go out to today's brunch team and to the best
little cat in the world who loved me.
jules hathaway



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