When Stars Are Scattered

When Stars Are Scattered

By Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed

8 ratings 7 reviews 9 followers
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. It's an intimate, important, unforgettable look at the day-to-day life of a refugee, as told to New York Times Bestselling author/artist Victoria Jamieson by Omar Mohamed, the Somali man who lived the story.
Publisher: Dial Books
ISBN-13: 9780525553908
ISBN-10: 0525553908
Published on 4/14/2020
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 264

Book Reviews (8)

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Because I love to read graphic novels , such as All's Faire in Middle School( book name ) ,so I searched online for other books ,and I found this book that is called When Stars Are Scattered .This book is a very heartwarming story ,that is about family ,home ,and the day-to-day life of a refugee .

It was a really good book I think that Omar and Hassan will have a great time in America.

“When stars are scattered” by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed is about two brothers who live in a refugee camp in Sudan.Omar and Hassan Mohamed are brothers that spend most of their lives in a refugee camp called Dadaab. Their father was killed in Somalia and their mother disappeared. An elderly woman named Fatuma lives with them in the camp. When Omar decides to go to school Hassan must help care for the animals at home. Hassan is non-verbal and has seizures. Omar feels like he should stay but he decides to go. This book is heart-wrenching and you don’t want to put it down. I would recommend this book for people who like non-fiction books.

I think this book was really good, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about the Lost Boys of Sudan.

This book is so good.

for years, Omar has stayed at the refugee camp because of the war. At the camp, he has to defend his disabled brother Hassan constantly, there's not enough food and nothing to do. Also, Omar and Hassan have been hoping to see their mother again, but they have had zero luck so far. For almost seven years, the two brothers have stayed at the camp. But when he grows up, Omar wants to do more than sit around in the camp, waiting. Instead, he desperately wishes to become a social worker and help people like him. But the UN has to specially pick his brother and he so that he can go somewhere else. But there are so many people, it seems like he won't ever be chosen. Throughout the story, Omar learns many important lessons on life, like to trust people to defend themselves, ignoring what others say about you, and having hope

Part 1: Omar Mohammed has lived in a Kenyan refugee camp for most of his life ever since his town was attacked during the war. He lives in a small tent with his little brother, Hassan. He and Hassan have been together since the beginning. Their refugee camp has tons of people in it, and they try to live life as normally as possible. But that's not an easy thing to do when you're a refugee. You never have enough to eat, you have nightmares at night, nobody has money, and so on. But at least Omar has his friends and Hassan who by the way has a disability. He cannot speak. The only word he ever says is "Hooyo". "Mama." When Omar has the opportunity to get an education while inside the camp, he must decide what is more important: education or taking care of his nonverbal brother. Omar learns that he shouldn't underestimate his little brother and that if he really wants to do what is best for Hassan, he should go to school. This ends up being a great idea because Omar learns that he loves learning! He also makes plenty of friends. When things get complicated, and Hassan runs away, Omar thinks that he must quit school because if he hadn't been so focused on his studies, Hassan wouldn't have felt left out. But he soon learns that he shouldn't give up because after all if he wants to get a better life for himself and his brother, education is the best choice. Part Two: Two years later, 13-year-old Omar is now in secondary school! Yippee! And he still loves to learn. He is determined to keep up his studies and watch over his brother even though things are changing. One of his classmates is now married and has a baby on the way. Another one of his classmates has to deal with a father who enjoys crushing spirits just because he never got picked by the UN to get resettled to Canada, or Australia, or America. America. The country everyone is talking about. Everything is better in America. Everyone has big houses and fancy cars. You'll get a great job there! It is the dream of many refugees. Everybody hopes that they make the weekly list so they can get interviewed and potentially picked to go to America. Before, Omar didn't think America was the best choice for him. He wanted to go back to Somalia to find his mother and become a farmer. Those hopes are behind him now. He is focusing on the future rather than worrying about the past. And to Omar's surprise, he and one of his best friends make it on the list to get interviewed by the UN! Great! Omar and Hassan sit down to be interviewed and Omar has to relive the days of his scary past, and he learns more about himself through it. He waits and waits for his next interview to come around, but nothing happens. Meanwhile, his friend that also gotten chosen on the list has gone through many interviews already! She and her family have been selected to go to Canada! This upsets Omar, and he pushes away everybody because of his anger. Why wasn't he picked? What did he do wrong? What happens now? It seemed like a refugee's only job is to wait. Part 3: 4 years later, 17-year-old Omar is back to his usual self. He's got his friends by his side and he is one of the lucky few that get to attend high school. He's still a refugee, and he's forgotten all about that silly dream of being resettled by now. Until he gets news that he is going to have his second resettlement interview. Hope starts coming back to Omar. After the second interview more follow and Omar gets a letter saying that he and Hassan have been selected to go to America. It's a miracle! Although Omar has considered the refugee camp his home, and he doesn't want to leave his friends behind, he knows that this is what is best. He just needs to take things one step at a time and have hope, just like he has through the years. This is a great book and I give it 5 stars. The pictures and humor, and the overall storyline was amazing. I like how it was told in a graphic novel rather than a chapter book. It makes it more interesting.

When Stars Are Scattered, made by Victoria Jamieson. When stars are scattered is narrated by the one and only Omar Mohamed and he lives as a refugee and he lives in a refugee camp. Omar Was born in Somalia and his dad died but he was sure that his mom was still alive. Omar lives with his little brother Hassan and his friend's grandma. Hassan has a seizure disorder and he used to have seizures all the time when he was younger but he doesn't have it that often when he was older. Omar got bullied by his friend’s friends. Omar wishes for himself to go to the United States in order to go to Somalia in Africa. As a reader I was so excited to read a March Madness Book for the first time and I just started reading and I was like “wow I think this is my favorite book now!” I love to read Graphic Novels like “When Stars Are Scattered”. I like to read Graphic Novels more than any other books that I have ever read. If you like graphic novels and realistic fiction you would love this book.