Dear World by Bana AlAbed

A heartfelt true story of a young 7 year old Syrian girl and her plea for peace. Genre: Nonfiction memoir Ages: 12 and up Available: Amazon Screening: mention of war and bombs and death This book is the story of Bana AlAbed, and her childhood in Aleppo, Syria. When she was only 3 years old, the Syrian war started, and Bana’s life changed. She details how her dad was kidnapped, how they lived in fear and had to develop evacuation tactics when they heard bombs coming, how her mother needed her help to care for her siblings, and how she witnessed her friend dying. She details how she started to tweet about the war and how she was targeted because of that. Bana and her family fled to Turkey, where they were finally able to have some peace, although she still misses her home and wishes for peace in Syria too. Interspersed with Bana’s tale are letters from her mother on how it felt to see her daughter grow up in the war. These letters brought tears to my eyes, as any mother can connect with wanting your children to be safe! The details of living under war were heartbreaking to read and the oppression of the regime was absolutely horrifying to read about firsthand. It truly is so sad to read this from an innocent young girl’s perspective, as children truly do not deserve to be deprived of their childhood and face such trauma. A definite important read and one showing the reality of the Syrian war, the opressive regime, and its effect on innocent Syrians, particularly children.

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