Trying to explain prostitution appropriately to an 8 year old was a bit of a challenge, but the rest was amazing! Overall, it is appropriate for 8+ but heads up that there is one part where Jude talks about sneaking the movies Practical Magic and Pretty Woman (neither of which would be allowed because of witchcraft and prostitution). For example: Why would tourists stop coming to Jude’s hometown? What happened in Syria? What is Issa trying to say about Bashar al-Assad? Let’s try to infer what some of these Arabic colloquialisms mean without looking them up. We ended up reading it together to talk through some aspects of the book. Think House on Mango Street… accessible reading but a lot of details and inferences to talk through. She’s an excellent reader, and this book is easy to read in terms of level, but the prose is so spare that it requires a lot of higher level thinking. I read this book with my 8 year and it is so beautiful (I often read ahead because I enjoyed the style so much). But any reader who's ever struggled to fit in after moving to a new town or felt alone on the first day at a new school will easily identify with Jude. The novel addresses serious and timely topics (the war in Syria, prejudice, what it means to be a refugee), that some parents may find too mature for younger readers. There are a couple of brief mentions of two girls getting their first periods. A handful of violent episodes (a bombing and a police raid) are described in only a few words and never graphically. Only one other student at her new school looks like her and and she's trying to understand why she's not seen as simply a girl, but instead now has a label: Middle Eastern Muslim. It's a novel in free verse written in the voice of Jude, a 12-year-old Syrian refugee who comes to live with her uncle's family in Ohio. Parents need to know that Jasmine Warga's Other Words for Home won a 2020 Newbery Honor. Jude watches old American movies ( Runaway Bride, Legally Blond, Pretty Woman) and she and her brother sing along with Whitney Houston.
0 kommentar(er)
