On the day of a huge protest, Jude is forced to stay home. The next day her baba shows her pictures in the newspaper of bloodied protesters. After the protest, police are everywhere, at school, the butcher shop, the beach, and there are rumours of people being rounded up and put in jail. In a nearby town, men with stolen tanks and weapons have taken over and are fighting the Syrian army. In Jude's town, people are now openly showing their support for the president by bowing before his picture which is hung in shops everywhere. Jude's mama is careful to make sure the police are aware of her support for Assad.
Despite the violence, and warnings from Baba, Issa remains committed to the protests. Eventually he moves out of the family home into his own apartment. On the day that Jude is finally allowed to visit him, his apartment is raided by armed police. Issa manages to lead Jude to safety but this leaves their parents terrified. Her father must now stay at his shop to ensure it remains safe.
Amid rising tensions, Jude learns that she and Mama, who is expecting a baby, will be visiting her uncle who lives in America. However, both Baba and Issa will remain behind as Baba must stay to care for their store.
After one final party with friends, Jude and Mama travel to Cincinnati Ohio where they are met by Uncle Mazin, his wife Aunt Michelle who "looks like an American movie star" and her cousin Sarah. Uncle Mazin and Aunt Michelle are very welcoming but Jude's cousin Sarah seems unhappy about their visit. Jude and her mother settle into a bedroom on the third floor of her uncle's huge old home located in a neighbourhood called Clifton.Once they are settled in, they call Baba in Syria. Their town is safe for now but Jude senses fear in her baba.
In the fall, Jude begins attending the same school as her cousin Sarah.Instead of helping Jude, Sarah shuns her and goes off to be with her friends. Jude has seven classes including math and ESL. Although Jude knows how to speak some English, she dreads the ESL class. However, in Mrs. Ravenswood's ESL class, Jude finds a place to belong.
As she struggles to fit in at school, to cope with homesickness and missing Baba and Issa, her aunt and uncle try to help Jude adjust to life in America. Gradually Jude begins to find her way, make friends and to dream again of a future filled with hope.
Discussion
Other Words For Home is a delightful gem of a novel, written in free verse. The story, which covers about nine months, focuses on a twelve-year-old Syrian refugee's experiences as she struggles to adapt to life in America. Fleeing from the violence of the Syrian Civil War, Jude and her mother travel to Cincinnati to stay with her mother's brother, Jude's Uncle Mazin and his family.
When she first arrives in America, Jude is overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of a country so different from Syria. Everything is bigger, brighter and faster. So much selection and the feeling that "everyone is trying to sell you something", Jude finds herself "... dizzy with want," But Jude also notices another side to America when she sees the poor on the street. She notes that Americans like to label things because "They help them know what to expect." and that her school is filled with many different types of people, with different skin color and shapes and sizes. Jude is also struck by the boldness of Americans as exemplified in restaurant ads.
Warga's portrayal of the struggles a Syrian refugee might encounter in a new country like America seems realistic. The author states that Jude's story reflects the experience of a family friend who was able to leave Syria by plane, a method most refugees did not have to means to use. (Most fled over land and by sea in rickety boats.) Jude struggles with learning a new language, making friends, understanding a new culture and encounters the ugliness of racism. She must deal with missing her way of life in Syria and with the fear of having her brother missing in Aleppo. Jude must also begin to cope with personal changes as she starts having her period and moves to wearing a head scarf. If her skin colour and heavy accent haven't already set her aside, her head scarf opens her to more visible racism, with unsettling and unkind remarks from both strangers and even her well-meaning Aunt Michelle.
Warga employs the tried formula of a new student who finds herself through participation in a school event such as a concert, competition or school play. In Other Words For Home, Jude gradually attains a sense of belonging, when she takes the bold step of auditioning for a speaking role in the school play, Beauty and The Beast. She is warned by her new Muslim friend Layla, that such roles are not for girls like us.
"Jude, those parts aren't for girls like us...
We're the type of girls that design the sets,
that stay backstage.
We're not girls who
glow in the spotlight."
But Jude is having none of it. She wants to be one of "those girls." The required two minute monologue gives Jude the chance to speak out and speak up.
"Every time I practice,
I think about how wonderful
it feels to speak
for two whole minutes,
with no fear of being interrupted,
with no one saying, Skety.
Just me and my big mouth,
speaking,
being heard."
Auditioning and winning a speaking part, offers Jude the opportunity to be a part of something big, to fit in, to make friends. It is the beginning of her rebuilding her life in America.
One of the themes explored in the novel is that of luck and the belief that those who are able to move to America are "lucky". Jude experiences guilt that she has been able to escape from Syria while so many have not. As the war intensifies and America and other countries begin to close their doors to refugees, Jude tries to find a reason why she deserves to be one of the "lucky" people:
"I search every day for a clue about why I deserve
to be here in Aunt Michelle's kitchen,
safe
and fed.
When so many others
just like me are not.
Lucky. I am learning how to say it
over and over again in English.
I am learning how it tastes --
sweet with promise
and bitter with responsibility."
As Thanksgiving approaches, both Omar who is from Somalia and Jude struggle with how luck has impacted them. When Omar struggles to mention what he's thankful for, Jude understands.
"Omar goes next.
It takes him a moment to speak,
and I wonder if like me,
he is searching for something to say.
If he is struggling with how you can feel so lucky
and unlucky
at the same time...
we are lucky to be here
when so many others aren't
But we don't understand the luck of
why or how
just the luck."
Other Words For Home is a book about journeys both geographical and personal. There is the obvious journey of Jude and her mother by plane from war-torn Syria to safety in America. There is Jude's own inner journey, as she begins to make her own choices like whether or not to wear a head scarf or to apply for a speaking part in the school play instead of accepting what others might expect of her. There is Jude's journey from being told "Jude, skety", meaning "Jude, be quiet" to speaking a two minute monologue in front of an audience.
Jude's cousin Sarah experiences her own inner journey as she moves from shunning her cousin and experiencing jealousy over the cultural connection Jude shares with Sarah's father, to moving towards acceptance. Sarah apologizes to Jude for her unkind remarks, offering to help Jude's friend Layla after their restaurant is targeted in a racial attack and is drawn into a deeper relationship with her cousin after the birth of Jude's sister, Amal. There is Jude's mother's journey towards adapting to a new life by learning to speak English, and encouraging her daughter in her own journey of self-discovery.
Although Other Words For Home may not necessarily reflect the typical Syrian war refugee's experience in fleeing the country, it seems realistic in its portrayal of the struggles that newcomers to America might experience in adapting to a different culture and in dealing with discrimination and misunderstanding. Jude is a thoughtful, strong, intelligent girl, whom readers will come to identify with. Warga has put a face to refugees, those who are different and vulnerable, showing their dignity and humanity.
Book Details:
Other Words For Home by Jasmine Warga
New York: Balzer + Bray 2019
342pp.
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