Refugees

Rating:
Summary: Masterful storytelling
Review: This book was really new and different. Captivating. A fast read. I could not put it down. It is hard to believe that it's fiction. I don't want to give away the ending, but the two character's stories are so intricately woven yet they don't know each other. I saw it at a book fair and picked it up, now I'm ordering Refugees for my friend's daughter, who is 16. I also recommend it for adults. Really great, very moving and thoughtful. When I think about it, it hits me... we're all refugees one way or another.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful writing, touching story.
Review: This novel tells the stories of two teens on opposite sides of the globe, both caught in terrible circumstances. Dawn is a foster child runaway caught in New York City on the fateful day of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Johar is a poet fleeing the terrible armies of the Taliban in Afghanistan. How their lives find a way to touch is the heart of this novel.

It is hard to believe this is a first book. I love the way this author draws such different worlds with such compelling, sensual detail. Dawn's internal emotional struggle is depicted with restraint and realism. Johar's collapsing world is at once exciting and heart breaking. All in all, this is a great book with wonderful characters and a lively story, and will be appreciated by people of all ages. Highly recommended.