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.
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.
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