Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I’m usually all for sharing, mind you, but this cold we all have…I could have done without that. (And I got it a day later than everyone else, so I was thinking there was a teensy possibility that I might.) I’m blaming Friday’s missed post on it, since that’s when my throat started to signal to me that I hadn’t dodged the bullet, but it works out, because I just finished When Stars Are Scattered today. (If you’re not familiar, it’s the graphic biography by Victoria Jamieson (Roller Girl, All’s Faire in Middle School) and Omar Mohamed, whose story it is.) I remember Somalia being in the news in the early 90s, but I was at an age where I just thought news was boring. Omar’s story, on the other hand, is riveting, even while the pacing reflects the reality of life in a refugee camp (“Life is always the same in a refugee camp…except when it’s not“). This is a book that will make readers think about their lives in new ways; it’s an honest book, relating Omar’s struggles with despair as well as the faith that ultimately sustains him, as well as a powerful one. I’m expecting both of my older girls to be grabbing for it, since they loved Jamieson’s other books and are graphic novel fans in general, but after reading it, I think I’d give it to them even if that weren’t the case. Some books ought to be read–and this, I think, is one of them.