Homes: A Refugee Story

by Winnie Yeung & Abu Bakr al Rabeeah

diversity
from-the-prairies
history-politics-current-affairs
war

One boy’s true story, both heartbreaking and hopeful, of living through the Syrian civil war and immigrating to Canada. In 2010, the al Rabeeah family left their home in Iraq in hope of a safer life. They moved to Homs, in Syria — just before the Syrian civil war broke out. Abu Bakr, one of eight children, was ten years old when the violence began on the streets around him: car bombings, attacks on his mosque and school, firebombs late at night. Homes tells of the strange juxtapositions of growing up in a war zone: horrific, unimaginable events punctuated by normalcy — soccer, cousins, video games, friends. Homes is the remarkable true story of how a young boy emerged from a war zone — and found safety in Canada — with a passion for sharing his story and telling the world what is truly happening in Syria. As told to her by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah, writer Winnie Yeung has crafted a heartbreaking, hopeful, and urgently necessary book that provides a window into understanding Syria.

Contributors

Winnie Yeung, author

Winnie Yeung has been an English Language Arts teacher for ten years. Homes is her first book. She lives in Edmonton, Canada, with her black pug, Zoe.

Abu Bakr al Rabeeah, author

Abu Bakr al Rabeeah is currently a high school student in Edmonton. After three years of living in Canada, he enjoys his life here but he also dreams of a future where he can return to help rebuild Iraq and Syria.

Reviews

From a safe distance, the violence of the Syrian civil war is too vast and grotesque to grasp. How does one comprehend the deaths of 500,000 people, after all? Homes grants readers an intimate view of the war through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy as he struggles to play, pray, and survive as his world collapses around him. Homes stands as one of those rare books that manages to find humanity in the inhumane and, in the end, says more about love than war. - Marcello di Cintio, author of Walls: Travels Along the Barricade
This charming and warm-hearted book is a refugee story like no other. A captivating read. - Deborah Campbell, author of A Disappearance in Damascus

Awards

Shortlisted, 2019 Alberta Book Awards, Trade Non-Fiction

Rights Holder

Rights Holder: Freehand books

email: kelsey@freehand-books.com

website: www.freehand-books.com

rights available: World, excl. Canada

Additional Information

number of pages: 220

publication date: 05/01/2018

Original language of pub: English

Materials Available: complete manuscript