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Everyone who has been fortunate enough to live their entire lives in a place of peace would do well to read Abu Bakr's story. I found it did a very good job of immersing the reader in the wide variety of emotions a young person would feel going through two civil wars and then suddenly being dropped into a Western city. Fear, safety, home and belonging can wear different faces in different places, and it is not an easy thing to change "home" even when you are in a safer place. Syrian refugees - we rallied and donated clothes and household items to help families locally get settled, we see new Immigrants on the news grateful to be here - yet we miss their personal stories. This simply written book explains the background we need to be truly empathetic. I’m grateful that the author shared his story, he shone a great light on the details of his life, and the universal struggle and hope for safety and security that comes with Homes.
I cannot believe how young the author of this book is and how grown up he seems. I love the beauty in which he talks about his country and his family. It really helps paint a picture of what families are living through in Syria and what the experience of getting to Canada was like. One thing I do wish is that it talked more about what life was like for the family after they moved to Canada and how it was to adapt and start all over. I can imagine that struggle could be a book of it's own.
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Nothing is certain but the fact that more bombs and shootings will surely follow. Homes makes one think about how lucky we are to be Canadian. I cannot imagine sending my children off to school and having to worry about snipers or suicide bombers. This memoir is told by Bakr, reflecting on his life in Iraq and Syria. He shared the dichotomy of the violence and massacres with the hustle and bustle of a loving, close knit family full of siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles.
Homes is a gracefully written book that really captures what this year's Canada Reads theme is - a book to move you. It's the story of a young boy's life growing up in the midst of the civil war in Syria as his family hopes to be approved for refugee status in Canada. Entirely told from his perspective, it offers a unique context to the important issues of war, violence, faith, and the ongoing refugee crisis. Even the fact that this book is the result of that boy, finally living in Canada, dictating his story to his favourite teacher is moving enough all its own. As someone who’s always had the safety of a stable country and a life free from daily violence, it’s hard to imagine life in a war zone.
A Visit to Kansas City’s Grandest Homes
As a leading builder of short term vacation rental homes and single family long term rental homes City Homes has the homes you are looking for. The winter holiday season tends to be a busy one in the romance aisle. To assist you in finding your next hot read to warm up a cold night,... I like this book to show young learners what homes are like in cities and suburbs.
For every person from Edmonton who lives overseas as an English teacher, this story will bring tears of pride to your eyes. Because Canada knows our responsibility to accept people running from horrible circumstances. Also, we have amazing, dedicated teachers who make dreams come true. For every person that has survived war and is trying to find a safe home for their children, this is a book of hope.
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Abu Bakr al Rabeeah is a teenage Syrian refugee living in Edmonton with his family. There, he met ESL teacher Winnie Yeung, and they embarked together on the project of telling his and his family’s story. Also the immense challenges faced by parents trying to keep their children safe in all of this, as well as, later, the difficulty of adapting to an entirely new culture, climate and language. What I love about this book is the voice; it breaks down the barriers of us vs. them, which is such a prevalent theme when it comes to stories of refugees. Instead, Bakr’s childhood is one that seems familiar to me, and will ring true for many Western readers.
This young boy has experienced so much in such a short amount of time and his ability to stay positive and happy despite it all made my heart crack. In 2010, the al Rabeeah family left their home in Iraq in hopes of a safer life. Bakr's story has the potential to be the next great textbook. It is autobiographical in the vein of Anne Frank or Malala Yousafzai. It is story of escape, and the world must always strive to create places not just to escape to, but to eliminate the need to escape from a place at all. I thank you for giving me and a lot of other people the opportunity to view these beautiful old Historic homes and their interiors.
City Homes
It’s hard for them to decide which is more difficult — living with family and familiar traditions in a war-torn country, or being physically safe but alone and lost in a new world. Despite the havoc and carnage the grown-ups were causing, the children found a way to still be children. And when Bakr and his little friend realize the reality of the casings, and that the reason they were scattered throughout the streets meant that people had been shot at, and so it ruins the fun of their game, my heart just broke. The innocence of children being slowly but brutally ripped away from them in such a way is truly heartbreaking. The story begins in Iraq where the Al Rabeeah family spends their days dodging the constant threat of violence as death seemingly lurks around every corner.
Once they arrive in Canada and are provided housing their new life begins. But the author still experiences the same feelings of daily fear as he did in Syria. But this time it is fear of the unknown, the incredible silence at night, and the loss of his extended family still in Syria. Days are often spent staying indoors with his cousins playing Grand Theft Auto while just out his window massacres are taking place and bombs are going off. But for the moment they are safe giggling young boys enjoying horseplay and PlayStation to pass the time. That is not to make light of the death and terror going on just beyond their walls, nor is it meant to indicate that it did not effect them.
Abu Bakr al Rabeeah’s story is captivating, providing a unique window into the ways in which his family struggled to maintain a normal life in Syria, despite the escalating violence and political turmoil during the Syrian civil war. Fortunately his father’s application to move to the West is granted, and the family goes to Canada. Now they are safe from the violence and the death and the destruction, but they’re in a new country, vastly different from what they had known in either Iraq or Syria, and none of them know English.
Finally, fed up with a life lived in fear, the family moves to the town of Homs in Syria. Unfortunately, this is just prior to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. In an effort to find peace, they leave Homs for Damascus where the violence will again follow them.
He finds a man’s jawbone on his father’s property and gives it a proper burial. Keep in mind he is a child; these are things no child should have to endure. It’s obvious why this book has affected so many people-it paints a vivid picture explaining why we may fear refugees when they come to our country, but this fear is so clearly unfounded. Bakr admits that when he came to Edmonton, those first few months he was angry and frustrated. So many people would condemn these feelings, claiming he should just be grateful for escaping the danger of Syria-which he most certainly is. And yet, as Canadians, we demand these refugees be forever happy and grateful just to be in a place that we so often complain about ourselves.
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