Other Words
for Home

Other Words For Home - Kai V. from Marshfield Junior High

Jasmine Warga is the author of the New York Times bestseller Other Words For Home. Other Words For Home earned multiple awards, including a John Newbery Honor, a Walter Honor for Young Readers, and a Charlotte Huck Honor. She is also the author of young adult books, My Heart and Other Black Holes and Here We Are Now, which have been translated into over twenty different languages. The Shape of Thunder, her next novel for middle grade readers, will be published in May 2021. Originally from Cincinnati, she now lives in the Chicago-area with her family.

From Jasmine: "Growing up, I loved to read. I also loved to tell stories. I come from a long-line of story-tellers. I only met my paternal grandmother twice—she lived in Jordan—but one of my most distinct childhood memories is of her telling me a story about the mermaids that live in the Dead Sea. That story has stayed with me for years. Stories are the way I make sense of our messy and complicated world. But back to reading—when I was younger, I read about every book I could get my hands on. Some of my favorites were Charlotte’s Web, The Witches, and Anne of Green Gables. I read The Bridge to Terabithia when I was in fourth grade, and it is the first book I remember reading by myself that made me cry .... reading their brilliant writing made my own desire to tell stories feel possible in a way it hadn’t before." Jasmine Warga: Bio 

Summary

Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.

At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven’t quite prepared her for starting school in the US—and her new label of “Middle Eastern,” an identity she’s never known before.

But this life also brings unexpected surprises—there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.

This lyrical, life-affirming story is about losing and finding home and, most importantly, finding yourself.

Praise for Other Words for Home

“Told in verse and divided into five sections chronicling Jude’s flight from Syria and adjustment to America, this powerful middle grade novel explores the complicated concepts of war and corruption, home, family, belonging, and how, in Jude’s own words, “It is strange to feel lucky/for something that is making my heart feel so sad.” -- School Library Journal, *starred review*

“Offers offers a realistic portrait of the strength it takes to move to a new country, as well as of the complicated dynamics between first- and second-generation immigrants.” -- The Horn Book, *starred review*

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“Other Words For Home is a salve for the world we live in today. It’s a hope-filled story that doesn’t pander, but instead peels back layers of culture and identity, fear and prejudice, exile and belonging, all wrapped around a young Syrian girl—Jude. Chocked with equal parts fear and moxie, Jude is a heart trying to figure out how to beat outside the body. I ached for, but simultaneously, found that though our stories are different, I am her. This is a necessary story. We’re lucky to have it in the world.” -- Jason Reynolds, award-winning, bestselling author of Ghost and Long Way Down

• Syrian Refugee Children Stories - Save the Children

• Syrian Refugee Crisis - I Am Syria Resources

• Syria: What Students Need to Know - TED Ed

• Syrian Crisis - UNICEF

• Uncovering the Truth About the Hijab: Students Share Their Experiences - Best of SNO

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