At the advent of the violence in Syria, Jude's parents make the difficult decision to send Jude and her pregnant mother to the United States to stay with her uncle. Jude's older brother has become active in the resistance and won't leave his country and her father couldn't bear to leave his business. It was gut-wrenching to leave part of her family behind and go to a new country, whose language she barely spoke. The struggle to fit in at her new school and make new friends was a difficult one.

This is a captivating tale of a young woman's flight from danger to the solace of a new country. Told in verse, it paints a compassionate picture of the dilemma of those trying to escape the war in Syria and of those left behind in the war torn country. I love to read diverse books about other cultures and situations like what is happening in Syria to try to understand and cultivate empathy to those going through situations I couldn't even imagine. This is an excellent book to do just that. As a middle grade reader, it would be a great book to open the discussion of refugees and migrants to help that age group gain empathy ad understanding of other situations in the world.