When Stars are Scattered Book Review

When Stars are Scattered

Jamieson, Victoria, Omar Mohamed, and Iman Geddy (Illus.). WHEN STARS ARE SCATTERED. New York: Dial Books, 2020.

ISBN 978-0-5255-5390-8

In this richly detailed graphic novel biography, Victoria Jamieson tells the story of Omar Mohamed, a Somali refugee who spends most of his childhood in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya with his brother Hassan. He had to flee his village in Somalia, and in the confusion of leaving, the two boys were separated from their mother. In the refugee camp, Omar cares for his brother Hassan who has seizures, probably from malnourishment, and other developmental difficulties. He only speaks one word, "Hooyo," a Somali word for "mother." Hassan navigates the sometimes dangerous world of the refugee camp, protecting his brother, surviving on meager food allotments, and searching for his mother. Eventually he attends school and realizes the power of education in freeing his body and mind. Omar and Hassan, as well as all the refugees, wait for word from the UN that they will be resettled into another country to start their new lives.

Omar is movingly portrayed as a growing boy with complex emotions and appropriate reactions to his very difficult circumstances. He loves his brother but is often annoyed and angry with Hassan's limitations. He cares for his foster mother Fatuma, an older woman who accepts the task of helping the two brothers. She rarely speaks of her childhood, but the intimate illustrations by Victoria Jamieson hints of her own tragic backstory. Omar grows throughout his story. He learns that perhaps he babies his brother. Hassan only speaks the one word and communicates through grunts and noises, but he is a loving and friendly boy to everyone (and animals), so Omar teaches his brother how to work and do the chores of the camp and allows the community to help look after him, so Omar can attend school. Omar loves school and works hard, saying that he didn't realize "his brain had been starving" (p. 52). He has temper tantrums, fights with his friends, and learns to deal with these hard emotions under trying circumstances. Hassan just continues loving everyone with his big heart.

Because it is a graphic novel, the illustrations are particularly important to the narrative. Jamieson and the colorist Iman Geddy convey lovely little moments of intimacy combined with sweeping pictures that show the vastness and complexity of the refugee camp. The illustrators include the long lines for food and water. They also manage to show the hunger the refugees experience. The UN logo on the rain tarps on tops of the tents lends a verisimilitude to the story. One page reflects the vastness of the camp by showing hundreds of people seeing a family off to Canada. The large scale portrays the physical dimensions of just one part of the three camps, while also expressing the large dreams of these people for their families. There are times when the illustrations convey the intense emotional moments far better than words: when Omar and his friend Jeri fight and Omar apologizes without words, reaching out and touching his arm on his shoulder. When the sisters Maryam and Nimo are saying goodbye to one another, their tender hug made me cry. The graphic novel format serves an additional unique insight. At one point in the story, a character's text bubble includes words encased in an angle bracket to denote that the character is speaking English. For example, a UN official says to Omar, "<And what about Hassan? When did you learn about his disabilities?>" (p. 191). It made the experience of reading this story much richer to know that the default language of the everyone is Somali, and that I was reading a translation, so to speak. It felt authentic and correct.

The theme of this biography is to have faith. Most of the people in this story are practicing Muslim, so they are operating within their religious faith. However, faith sometimes is expressed outside of religion. Omar must learn to have faith in other people. At first, he doesn't want to go to school because he's afraid to leave his brother alone, but he learns to have faith in his brother's abilities and faith in his community to watch over his brother in his absence. When Maryam is forced to marry a much older man at fifteen years old, instead of trying for a scholarship to Canada, she has faith that she can make different choices for her own daughter in the future.

Omar Mohamed's foundation Refugee Strong 

When Stars are Scattered portrays the Somali and other African countries' refugees in a rich and straightforward manner. It shows the complex life of a refugee camp: the deprivations and the humanity that people show one another. There are several mentions of the Muslim faith, including illustrations of men praying and speaking of God and His will for them. It is moving and real. Tragedies are glimpsed: men who turn to drugs when they have no hope for work or a future, poverty, and the everyday indignities that women suffer. The only "diversity" displayed is the differences in education and economic deprivation, as all the characters are black (except for a Spanish social worker who helps Omar). These are accurately portrayed in text and illustration. There are back matter: both an author's note and a note from Omar Mohamed. They speak to the writing process of a graphic novel biography.

Programming Connection

Students will write their own personal narrative as a graphic novel. They will watch a video with Victoria Jamieson demonstrating how she draws her graphic novels. We will outline a personal narrative then storyboard it on graphic novel templates. They will then draw their narrative.