★★★★★ 5
Everyone should read this book.
Format: Kindle
𝙄𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝
𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜,
𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜,
𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙘,
𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨
𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚
𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤
𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙
𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡,
𝙣𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙜𝙚.
All the stars, hugs, ice cream cones, and applause for this gorgeous, heartwarming, important, perfect, middle grade book written in free verse.
In her acknowledgments, Jasmine Warga said, “It wasn’t until I found Jude’s voice that the book was really born. I wrote Jude for my twelve-year-old self, who never saw a brown girl in a book who was proud of her family and where she came from. A brown girl with hopes and dreams of her own.”
The voice Jasmine found for her main character, Jude, is astonishingly authentic, wonderfully observant, and filled with love and hope and strength. Jude’s voice combined with the free verse blew me away for its lack of pretension, naturalness, and profound beauty. I was worried that the free verse would feel forced, especially coming out of a twelve year old’s mouth, but instead it’s surprisingly organic and easy to read.
This is a Syrian refugee story that reveals what should be obvious: that refugees want what everyone wants: to be happy, to be safe, and to be themselves.
Jude’s story is told with humor and heart and understanding and joy. It’s possibly my favorite book I’ve read so far this year.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2021
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