When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohammed

Omar and his younger brother, Hassan live in Dabaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. They were born in Somalia, but fled their home due to the war. They have been in Dabaab for seven years. While many in the camp hope to go to America, Omar wants to return to his family's farm in Somalia.

Dabaab is a huge camp, consisting of three separate camps. Omar and Hassan live in Ifo camp. There is not much food and no electricity. They are cared for by Fatuma, a woman who lives across from their tent.

Omar doesn't attend school: instead he cares for Hassan who doesn't speak anything except to say "Hooyo". Hassan loves to greet everyone he meets and help them.

After school, the boys from block As where Omar and Hassan live, like to play soccer. One of those boys, Omar's friend Jeri, hopes to go to America. 

One day Omar meets Salan, a community leader in the camp. He tells Salan that he doesn't attend school because he cares for Hassan. However, Salan talks with Fatuma, and together they explain to Omar why he should go to school. Salan points out that Fatuma can care for Hassan while he attends school. He also tells Omar that the war in Somalia is worsening so his plan to return home is likely not possible. Being accepted to America is also unlikely and Salan tells him that an education will help him prepare for the future and find a job. Omar's final objection is that he doesn't want to be "in a class with babies" and agrees only if he can start in Grade 5.

After many days, Salan returns with the necessary permission to start school in Grade 5. Omar is not happy but Fatum advises him to "look deep inside yourself and see what God is telling you to do. If this is God's will, then He will make everything ok..." When Omar leaves the next morning for school, Hassan is very upset. School for Omar is challenging, noisy and crowded, but he loves it. He notices that the girls in his school, including his friends Nimo and Maryam are doing chores before school, watching younger siblings after school. Because Omar doesn't have sisters to do chores, he must do them. This makes Omar tired and he sympathizes with the girls who must be exhausted.

After a few weeks, Omar tells Salan he's ready to give up school. Salan offers to give Omar extra English classes in exchange for him bringing water to his private school.Although this makes life more difficult for Omar by school break, Omar's english is greatly improved and he is ranked thirty-third in the class.

During the school break, Omar discovers that Maryam and Nimo continue to study even though they are one-two in the class. They tell Omar that they intend to win scholarships to study in Canada and dream of careers as doctors or singers. This leads Omar to reconsider what he might like to do and he thinks he would like to be a social worker.  Omar also begins to realise that his friend Jeri might be right about Hassan. Jeri points out to Omar that his brother can do more than he realizes and that he "babies" Hassan.

With the arrival of new refugees from Somalia, Omar learns that there is nothing left of his village, Mareery, as the war continues unabated. This news deeply upsets Omar and he comes to realize that his plan to return to Somalia isn't realistic. So he decides the best hope for his future is to pass the exams so he can attend middle school. To achieve this, Omar, Jeri and many of the boys from A2 study late into the night in Omar's tent with Jeri's lantern.But a week before the exams, Hassan who has been kept in Fatuma's tent, escapes

The day before the exams, Maryam visits Omar and tells him not to throw away the opportunity to get an education. She explains that she has no choice, that her dreams and hopes are over because she is being forced to marry. But his are not. Maryam tells Omar he is using Hassan as an excuse, that people will watch over Hassan. She explains that he is smart and cares about others, that with an education he can help other refugees some day. 

That night, unable to sleep, Omar talks with Fatuma. She tells him that Hassan has a gift of making people like him. She advises Omar to pray to God to thank Him and to ask Him for guidance.The next morning, Maryam arrives informing Omar that she is caring for Hassan while he goes to write his exams. She tells him she is giving him the chance she doesn't have, and Omar takes it. It's up to him to determine his future, one that is full of surprises, disappointments and success too!

Discussion

When Stars Are Scattered is a refugee's story of perseverance, faith, and fortitude in the face of daunting obstacles. It is the story of Omar Mohamed's life as a Somalian refugee in Kenya. As explained in his Author's Note at the back, Omar was born in Somalia but fled his homeland  along with his brother Hassan when he was four years old. Somalia was engulfed in civil war which began in 1991, and which still rages on today. He spent fifteen years in the Dabaab Refugee Camp in Kenya, completing primary and secondary school there.In the Afterword, readers learn what happened to Omar and Hassan after they left Kenya for the United States in 2009. Omar studied International Development at the University of Arizona, while Hassan received medication to help control his seizures and attended classes at an adult care center in Tucson. Both became U.S citizens in 2014, the year Omar also graduated university. Life got even better for Omar; he married a friend, Sarura whose family cared for Hassan when he ran away to another camp and who had also been resettled along with her family in the United States, and he was able to reunite with his mother in 2017. Omar's mother, Hawa Ali still lives in Dabaab but he is working on her resettlement to the United States. And Omar stayed true to his dreams, working today to help empower and support refugees through his own initiative, Refugee Strong.

As the Syrian refugee situation unfolded, Victoria Jamieson was interested in portraying the predicament of refugees using the graphic novel format. After meeting Omar at Church World Service, the two worked on using this format to capture the events and issues Omar and Hassan experienced as refugees. When Stars Are Scattered does a truly admirable job of doing just that.Young readers will learn about the many difficulties and obstacles they faced growing up in a refugee camp that was never meant to be a permanent home. Such difficulties, such as the lack of good food, electricity, medical services for children like Hassan, and crowded, noisy schools are all highlighted in the novel. 

Through characters created on the basis of Omar's recollections, some of the other serious issues refugees face were also well portrayed by Jamieson. For example, Omar's best friend Jeri has a father who has no job prospects and has essentially given up hope of leaving the camp and has taken to chewing khat leaves which offer him an escape from the boredom of camp life. The plight of young girls in the camp is also featured; Maryam and Nimo along with the other girls must do all the chores for their families, while also attempting to keep up their studies. Many young girls do not attend school, an education being deemed useless. Maryam also sees her dreams of being a doctor destroyed when she is forced to marry.

Omar himself faces many obstacles and is deeply conflicted about attending school when he feels he should be caring for his brother Hassan.  The plight of refugees waiting and waiting is expressed again and again in the novel and even Omar feels its effects. When Fatuma tells him to persevere with his education "so he can be ready when God reveals his plan to you", Omar notes that the camp is like a "giant waiting room, filled with hundreds of thousands of people waiting and waiting and waiting. Everyone here just wants a place to call home. A place where they can work, or go to school. A place where there families feel safe."

When Stars Are Scattered is a reference to a poem one of Omar's friends in the novel gives him. Maryam Farah, who wasnt' able to continue her education likens each Somali to a star. To the untrained eye the night sky looks like a mass of stars but those stars form patterns which we call constellations. They are all interconnected. Each has a story to tell, just like each refugee. Despite his first years being lost, Omar too has a story that shines out.

Finally, unlike many graphic novels, the artwork by Iman Geddy is superb, drawing readers into Omar and Hassan's story. When Stars Are Scattered is a readable, beautifully crafted graphic novel that gives a thoughtful treatment to refugees and the many issues they face today.

Book Details:

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohammed
New York: Dial Books For Young Readers    2020
258 pp.

Noa and the Little Elephant: A tale of friendship and survival by Michael Foreman

This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the fictional story of a young boy who loves to watch the animals around the great river where he lives.

Noa liked to watch the wading birds, zebras and the tall giraffes.But he especially loved to watch the elephants as they came to the river to cool off by playing in the water. Noa watched as a mother elephant played with her baby. The elephants grew accustomed to seeing Noa in his boat.

One day the elephants did not come to the river. Finally, Noa decided to follow the elephant path into the dark jungle. Noa discovers the terrible reason for the elephants absence from the library: the mother elephant is dead and has had her ivory tusks removed by poachers.

Noa comforts the baby elephant and leads him back to his home at the edge of his village. While his mom and little sister Eva helped make the baby elephant comfortable, Noa's dad told him to add water to the goat's milk so it wouldn't make the baby elephant sick.

As weeks go by the baby elephant becomes a part of the village.He even follows Noa to school some days, playing with him. But when the rainy season arrives, the baby elephant returns the favour by saving Noa's life, as the nearby river floods.

Discussion

This beautiful picture book for children, highlights in a gentle way, the effects of poaching animals. The story is told in a gentle way, with beautiful, soft watercolour illustrations by author/illustrator Michael Foreman. Young readers learn that when an adult elephant is killed for its white tusks, the baby elephant is in danger of dying. Like many young animals, it relies on its mother to survive. In Noa and the Little Elephant, the message is one of hope: Noa's family takes in the elephant and Noa is determined to work to save the elephants when he grows up.

Foreman has included an interesting Foreword by Julius Obwona, a ranger at the Uganda Wildlife Authority.Obwona, who grew up near Murchinson Falls National Park saw elephants, antelopes, birds and insects on his walks to collect water. But as he grew up, the elephant population crashed due to poaching. Eventually Obwona began working as a ranger, protecting wildlife around Murchinson Falls.

Noa and the Little Elephant is a delightful way to introduce children to caring for the creatures we share our planet with.

Book Details:

Noa and the Little Elephant by Michael Foreman
London, UK: HarperCollins Children's Books   2021

Pirate Queen: A Story of Zheng Yi Sao by Helaine Becker

Sitting combing her hair, a young woman doesn't realize that pirates are maurading through the city, smashing windows, looting and killing. Their captain, Zheng Yi has sent his men to seize young women for the pirates to marry. The women were carried back to the ships, their pleas for help ignored.

While the other girls cried and were terror-stricken, this young woman saw an opportunity.  She refused to marry Zheng Yi unless he gave her an equal share in his business. He agreed. Within six years Zheng Yi Sao's husband was dead and she quickly took command of Zheng Yi's pirate fleet. No one challenged her, not even her late husband's lieutenant, Zhang Bao.

Zheng Yi Sao was now in command of more than eighteen hundred ships and seventy-thousand men! To cement her authority over the pirates, Zheng formed a council out of her squadron leaders and soon they ruled the entire South China Sea.

So feared were the pirates that towns gave their money to Zheng Yi's pirates and her power grew. She was able to pay workers in every town to supply her ships.

Eventually she became even more powerful than the emperor, so he sent his armada to destroy her. But Zheng Yi's Red Flag Fleet destroyed sixty-three of his ships. Attempting to starve out the pirates also did not work.

The emperor then enlisted the help of the British, Dutch and Portuguese also without success. But Zheng Yi grew tired of a pirate's life and the knowledge that there was a price on her head.

So she sailed into Canton's port on a gunboat, along with the wives and children of her crew and offered to surrender most of her ships in exchange for their freedom. At first the governor-general refused but then changed his mind. And so Zheng Yi Sao retired from her pirate ways, a wealthy and free woman.

Discussion

Zheng Yi Sao was a real pirate who ruled the South China Sea. Some details of her story remain vague and unverified but the general story of her life is well known. In 1801, Zheng Wenxian was a powerful Chinese pirate, commander of the Red Flag Fleet that had been operating throughout the South China Sea. It is believed he had heard about Shi Xianggu, a prostitute in a floating brothel who had a reputation for being an astute businesswoman. She used the secrets she learned from her clients to further her own interests. Such a woman interested Zheng and set out to secure her, although it's not known for sure if she was kidnapped or if he met her and simply proposed to her. She married him on the condition that he share control of the pirate fleet with her. He agreed. Upon his untimely death however, Zheng's adopted son, Cheung Po Tsai was slated to take over the fleet. So Zheng Yi Sao married Cheung Po and gained control of the fleet.

After marauding the South China Sea for three years, Zheng Yi Sao finally decided to surrender and accept the Qing dynasty's offer of amnesty in 1810. It was likely a combination of constant harassment by the Chinese government to bring down the pirates as well as their own internal strife that influenced her decision.

Helaine Becker tells Zheng Yi Sao's story in a short,straightforward way, alongside Liz Wong's colourful illustrations, reminiscent of the Chinese traditional painting. The story is unique, and while Becker has left out some of the more spicy aspects of the pirate queen's life, the main message is that of a capable, savvy and intelligent woman holding her own in a very male dominated era. The author has included an Author's Note about the pirate queen and also notes on her sources and and offering of further resources to read.

Book Details:

Pirate Queen: A Story of Zheng Yi Sao by Helaine Becker
Toronto: Groundwood Books    2020

The Silence Of Bones by June Hur

Sixteen-year-old Seol is working as a damo, an indentured servant, for the police bureau in Hanyang, the capital of Joseon. She has been indentured for her entire lifetime, until she is forty-one years of age. Seol's father was said to have died of starvation while her mother died jumping off a cliff near the sea. At the age of seven, Seol was the family servant of the Nams. Seol was the nobi servant of Lord Paek who sold her to a nearby police bureau in Inchon. Four days after her indenture at the police bureau, Seol tried to escape and was caught and branded on the left cheek with Hanja character, bi which means female servant. She had made a promise to Older Sister to stay in Hanyang and find their brother's grave. Her older brother Inho had promise to write her but the letters stopped and he is now presumed dead.

The novel opens with Seol aiding in the investigation of the body of a woman, found face down, next to the wall that encloses Hanyang. She is ordered by Inspector Han to look at the corpse. Men are forbidden by Confucious's law from touching women not directly related to them. This is why the Capital Police bureau have female servants like Seol.

The woman's silk clothing with richly embroidered hem and sleeves indicates she is a noble. Seol notes she has been stabbed in the neck, but Inspector Han observes that the woman's norigae, a tassel-like ornament and a jewel pin still in her hair, remain. This means the motive for the murder was not robbery.  In her examination, Seol finds that the knife belonging to the silver paedo knotted to the norigae is missing and is found beneath the victim's left shoulder. It is the murder weapon. The woman's identification tag, required by law of everyone in the Joseon kingdom, indicates she was Lady O, daughter of Cabinet Minister O and only nineteen-years-old.

Seol accompanies Inspector Han to the Northern District, home to high ranking officials in Hanyang. Lord O is not home and Matron Kim is ill but the gate keeper reluctantly lets them in. Inspector Han has Seol interview Lady O's personal maid, Soyi. In the inner mansion Seol questions Soyi who tells her that she saw a man in her mistress's room. Soyi, who was taught to read by Lady O, tells Seol about a letter that arrived yesterday morning before her death. The letter told Lady O to meet at the Hour of the Rat. The writer instructed Lady O to burn the letter. 

In the Capital Police Bureau, Seol is instructed by Officer Kyon to lift the body of Lady O onto the table. Kyon tells Seol that all the corpses in the past week were moved to another region by Commander Yi to avoid autopsy, and their killers acquitted or lightly punished. This is because they were all Catholics, followers of the forbidden Western teaching which could result in execution. Seol wonders, "What was it about this teaching called Catholicism that terrorized the culprits enough to kill their own servants, their own children?" 

Eavesdropping outside the examination room Seol listens as Damo Hyeyeon conducts the autopsy. Lady O's death occured around midnight. Despite the watchman patrolling, the killer took the time to cut off her nose. Commander Yi believes the murder was one of vengeance.

Seol accompanies Officer Kyon and Inspectory Han to Mount Inwang where Maid Soyi has fled. Inspector Han located Soyi but they encounter a tiger. When Officer Kyon freezes, Seol grabs his weapon and shoots the tiger in the side. This causes her pony, Terror to bolt with the tiger in pursuit, throwing Seol down an embankment and knocking her senseless. When she awakes, Seol encounters a mysterious lady dressed as a man.The lady tells Seol that they passed the officers earlier who mentioned they were missing a damo. She indicates that if Seol wishes to flee she may do so, as she does not believe in indentured servitude, since this is a form of oppression. But Seol tells her she will return to the police bureau. The woman mystifies Seol who notices that she carries a beaded necklace with a misshapen wooden cross.

Back at the police bureau, Inspector Han gives Seol a norigae and promises that when the investigation is over, he will giver her what she most wants, to return home. The next morning, Seol is informed that Inspector Han is now interrogating Soyi after Commander Yi had her beaten for running away. During questioning Soyi tells Inspector Han that she saw a man on horseback wearing a blue robe just before dawn. After Soyi is taken back to the prison block, Seol is questioned by Master Ch'oi Jinyeop, the son of Third State Councillor Ch'oi. He was betrothed to Lady O when they were children.The young master was at the House of Bright Flowers and has an alibi.

Seol visits Maid Soyi in her prison cell to help clean her wounds. Soyi tells Seol that Lady O promised to give her her nobi deed, freeing her because she was a rogue Catholic who didn't believe in the indentured system. She believes Lady O's lover murdered her. As she leaves the police bureau, Seol is summoned to meet Lady Kang at her mansion in the Northern District by her servant, Woorim. Lady Kang is concerned that Seol may have told the inspector about the books in her cart when they met in the forest. These books are copies of one book. Kang tells Seol that she in convinced the Heavenly Father loves her. Seol knows Lady Kang to be a Catholic and when she questions her about the recent deaths of many Catholics, Lady Kang tells her that they were people who refused to apostatize this foreign learning" but that after the five month formal mourning period before the king's burial, there will be a persecution. Every five households will be grouped together and if a Catholic is found in any one, all will be found guilty of treason. It will not only wipe out the Catholics but also the queen regent's opposition as well. She tells Seol that the "Southern scholar-officials were among the first to spread Catholicism when it was smuggled in." While it was spread as a way to reform society, the regent believes it to be a way to regain power in the government. Lady Kang advises Seol to be careful, that she should not jump to conclusions, to examine the evidence, and that she has a responsibility to care for lives. Lady Kang tells Seol she can read people and warns her that when she needs help, to seek her out.

Back at the police bureau, Inspector Han  meets with Commander Yi who asks him about Councillor Ch'oi's visit.  Councillor Ch'oi fears the regent's intent to purge the Southerners. He wants protection and is willing to obtain it by capturing the only priest of Joeseon, Zhou Wenmo. However, Inspector Han has no intention of letting Ch'oi help in the priest's capture.

That night, Officer Kyon brutally attacks Seol, punishing her for shaming him in the forest, by shooting the tiger. He also reveals that he has testimony from an eyewitness that "Inspector Han was the blue-robed man who crossed paths with Maid Soyi." This revelation stuns Seol who has developed a deep loyalty to the inspector. Filled with disbelief, Seol seeks to prove Inspector Han's innocence, but this only leads to more questions and intrigue.

As things become more complicated with another murder, Seol soon has a host of potential suspects and a startling discovery about Inspector Han to consider. But can she uncover the truth before another murder happens?

Discussion

The Secret Of Bones is a complex and engaging murder mystery set in the Joseon era of Korea. The novel weaves together a collection of stories, linked by the murder of a young Catholic woman in the city of Hanyang. There is the story of Lady O, the daughter of Madam Kim and Councillor O who has been murdered and who is a Catholic but who had a secret lover and bore an illegitimate child. There is the story of Seol, whose parents are both dead, and who is now an indentured servant in the police bureau in Hanyang, but who is also determined to find her older brother Inchon who left almost twelve years earlier. There is the story of Inspector Han, who seems to be implicated in the murder he's investigating and who also seems to be possibly connected to Seol. And there is the story of a young man, the illegitimate son of a Councillor, who seeks to repudiate his shame by hunting down a Catholic priest and therefore restoring some honour to his name.

This novel would have done well to have offered readers a bit of backstory to the Joseon kingdom in the form of a prologue, as it's unlikely most teens or adults will be familiar with this era. However, Hur does incorporate  the main points of Catholic history into her story, through her characters.

The Joseon Dynasty was founded near the end of the fourteenth century when General Yi SEong-gye overthrew the Goryeo dynasty and founded a new one. The Joseon dynasty was based out of the city of Hanyang which today is called Seoul. It was chosen as the capital by King Taejo who was responsible for building Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Jongmyo Shrine. He also adopted the use of identification tags called hopae.

As Hur indicates in her Author's Note at the back, the story is set just prior to the Shinyu Bakhae of 1801, the first major persecution of Catholics in Korea. During the Joseon Dynasty, Korean society was based on Confucianism which stressed certain virtues such as loyalty, and duty as well as ancestor worship. Society in Korea was comprised of the nobility and scholars, with most Koreans being commoners or slaves.

Catholicism was brought to Korea, not by priests, but by the laity, sometime during the 17th century. Despite being a very isolated kingdom, Korean scholars were exposed to Catholicism through literature they obtained from China. European missionaries brought Catholic books which were translated to China. Because Catholicism presented a different social structure with a de-emphasis on class and no adherance to ancestral worship, it was seen as a threat to Korean society and was outlawed in the Kingdom of Joseon in 1758 by King Yeongjo. By 1776, western books were banned.

Despite this, Catholicism grew. In 1784, Peter Yi Seung-hun became the first Korean to be baptized into the Catholic faith, travelling to Peking, China to receive the sacrament.  He returned to Korea and began evangelizing his countrymen, and despite having no priest to minister to them, the community grew. In 1791, the first Catholics were executed and martyred for their faith, because they refused to perform the ancestral rites. 

When a priest finally did arrive in the Kingdom of Joseon, there were over four thousands Catholics. The first Catholic missionary, Father Chou Wen-Mu (Father Zhou Wenmo) arrived in Seoul, in 1795. Within six months, Father Wenmo was actively being pursued by the authorities and so Lady Kang Wansuk helped to hide him. By the turn of the century, there were over ten thousand Catholics in Korea.

The novel is set after 1791 and just prior to the coming persecution known as the Sinyu Persecution. Several of the characters The Secret of Bones were real, historical figures; Queen Jeongsun, Lady Kang and Father Zhou Wenmo. Queen Jeongsun had married King Yeongjo when she was very young, only fifteen years old. When he died she became Queen Dowager Yesun. When King Yeongjo's son, Yi San died at the age of forty-nine, his son, Yi Gong was to be come king but he was only ten years old. Queen Jeongsun became Grand Queen Dowager, acting as regent for the young king. It was Queen Jeongsun who began the Sinyu Persecution in 1801. The persecution may have been partially instigated by a letter sent and intercepted, asking for Western military intervention in Joseon. In the novel, Lady Kang's daughter Sunhui refers to this letter as the "Silk Letter". 

The main character, Seol is a well crafted heroine: determined, courageous and loyal. It is her relentless pursuit of the truth that drives the investigation forward, ultimately placing her in mortal danger. Unknowingly, her pursuit of the truth also leads her through a voyage of self discovery, forcing her to face her family's past and how what happened may now be playing a part in the events of the present.  It is a story of retribution, revenge and forgiveness. Because there are four or five storylines woven together, this gives the author plenty of opportunity to incorporate unexpected twists into the plot, which keeps her readers fully engaged. 

Overall, The Secret of Bones is a well written novel, complex with many layers to the plot. A map of the city of Hanyang and the outlying areas might help readers and a more attractive cover might be worth reconsidering, to draw readers into this gem of a novel. Look for more in the future from this accomplished Korean-Canadian author.

Book Details:

The Secret of Bones by June Hur
New York: Feiwel and Friends   2020
320 pp.