Something About America
Grade 6-8–In poetic free verse, a 13-year-old narrator describes her life in America after having been horribly burned during the war in Kosova. While she still carries the scars, she has assimilated into American culture much more than her parents. This book offers a brief glimpse into the lives of refugees from the Kosovar War. However, the poetic form limits the plot and character development, leaving readers with many more questions than answers about what happened to these remarkable people. When an act of racism inspires the entire town to stand up against prejudice, readers will cheer for the ideal, but not for the individuals, who never appeared to have been affected by it. This topic, inspired by actual events in Maine, needs a more detailed narrative and fully fleshed out characters to be truly compelling. Libraries with a need for stories about war refugees may want to consider this title as an additional purchase.–Sonja Cole, Briarcliff Middle School, Mountain Lakes, NJCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.