Publisher: Balzer and Bray

Published: May 7, 2019

Source: Hardcover from Local Public Library

Available Formats: Digital, Audio, Hardcover, and Paperback

My Review: A must for all middle school students. A must for families to read together.

I read along as I listened to the audiobook and it was phenomenal. I was able to become immersed into the lives of Jude and her family. I loved the fact that Cincinnati was the city they immigrated to as it is like a second home to me. I was able to picture where she moved.

This book will make you look deep inside yourself as an adult and think how you react to immigrants you see on the street. Are you friendly? Is your face friendly towards them? It will make you think about how the children in our lives pick up on how they think they should act by watching and listening to us.

A book perfect for the current situation happening now.

From Goodreads: Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.

At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven’t quite prepared her for starting school in the US—and her new label of “Middle Eastern,” an identity she’s never known before. But this life also brings unexpected surprises—there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.