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Staff Picks (July): The Unwanted — Stories Of Syrian Refugees HC

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A humanitarian crisis began in the summer of 2011 in Syria, one of several countries affected by the "Arab Spring," protests against repressive governments in the Arab world. In some countries, like Egypt and Yemen, authoritarian governments were overthrown. In Syria, the country descended into civil war as Bashar Al-Assad's government began a brutal crackdown against rebels in the north, using chemical weapons in contravention of international law, destroying cities such as Raqqa and Aleppo, and forcing those who could to flee for their lives. Some Syrians fled to refugee camps in "safe" areas in the Syrian desert. Others crossed the border into Turkey or Lebanon to flee the violence. Still others fled into Europe by land or by boat, paying traffickers what money they had to buy passage, and the Mediterranean Sea crossings into Greece and the Baltic countries were especially treacherous. Some, like the three-year-old boy Aylan Kurdi, drowned. Many found themselves taken by authorities in other countries and herded into refugee camps. Of Syria's pre-war population of 22 million, today half are refugees displaced from their homes, six million within Syria, five million outside its borders.

Award-winning writer and illustrator Don Brown explores the Syrian refugee crisis in his graphic novel, The Unwanted, for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Brown has previously explored the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in The Drowned City and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s in The Great American Dust Bowl. Like in those graphic novels, Brown offers a human dimension to the crisis, portraying one month in the life of a refugee family, the deteriorating situation in Syria, and their harrowing escape. Brown traveled to refugee camps as part of his research for The Unwanted, meeting Syrian refugees and hearing their stories, giving the graphic novel authenticity. Proceeds for The Unwanted will go to the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization that works to resettle refugees and help them become self-sufficient. Don Brown's The Unwanted is a powerful and necessary book about the human toll of the Syrian crisis and the struggle of millions to find what we all want -- a life free of danger and war, someplace where they can live, work, and play in peace, where they can be happy, where they can thrive, where they can love. The world's leaders may have turned a blind eye to the plight of the Syrians. Don Brown, thankfully, has not.

Wink Shörtendorfer

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Item Code: JUL181974
Release Date: 9/19/18
SRP: $18.99

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