Freedom Hospital: A Syrian Story by Hamid Sulaiman

Rating:

3 Stars

Themes:

Graphic Novel, Historical

Thoughts:

I was a little conflicted with this book, it’s handy as a first touch point with the war in Syria and its history but there was something a little lacking. Sometimes it was difficult to tell the characters apart which was a problem when I couldn’t tell which army the character was fighting for until a few text bubbles in. I’m not sure if the art style did this intentionally but I noticed that the art style meant we couldn’t see the differences in skin tone which has been shown to make white people care more. It was good that the weapons used were broken down so to speak each time they were used with the country of origin and who it was supplied to being shown as it shows just how many external countries were meddling in the war on different sides. Overall though, I did get the feeling of hope despite the horrors through this book, especially with the way Yasmin kept having her Freedom Hospital sign put up regardless of what had happened for it to come down.

Favourite Quote:

“It's disgusting how extremists on both sides are using children. We couldn't protect them from the army, we won't be able to protect them from Al-Qaeda.”

Comments

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Porn is Not Sex Ed! by Jessica Melendez

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Young Adult Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. In the age of lessening sex education this book could be a great tool to help bridge the gap. I appreciate the talk to an adult bits that can encourage children to start to have conversations that are important but they often think are cringy. The note to trusted adults bit at the end is great too and there’s quite a few useful activities to help the messages really sink in. Some of the points here such as fetishisation and body image are really important ones that I never learned that young (which could be the reason I had such poor body image as a teen) and for the most part the book talks to kids on their level although some areas may feel a little immaturely worded for older teens. With thanks to Hachette UK and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy of this book.

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