Welcome to Nowhere

Product Information

Raamatu tegevus toimub 3 aasta jooksul ning jutustab ka iga perekonnaliikme isiklikust arengust ning probleemidest kodusõja eest põgenemise taustal. Omari perekond on moslemid, mis tähendab, et raamat puudutab ka tollele kultuurile omaseid tavasid väga tugevalt. Raamatu üks põhipunkte on minu jaoks ka naiste elu moslemikultuuris. Näiteks on Omaril vanem õde nimega Eman, kelle otsustas nende isa tüdruku 16-aastaseks saades viivitamata mehele panna. Isa väljavalituks osutus paraku aga üks 30ndates aastates pururikas, kuid vastiku iseloomuga ärimees, kelle Eman otseloomulikult ära põlgas. Kõige jõhkram oli minule kui läänekultuuri esindajale lugeda, kuidas vaest tüdrukut ei üritatudki mehe käest päästa vaid vastu vaidlemise eest sai ta oma enda pere käest veel sõimu ja mis seal salata, ka füüsilist nuhtlemist tunda. This is a fantastic read, one that should become required school reading to educate on this crisis! Laird has obviously done her research, because she brought it all to life for me. So much so, that I almost wanted to Google Omar and his family after I had finished the book to find out what has become of them. That's an incredible feat, and I applaud her for it.

It's tough in the camps. In the summer the weather is blisteringly hot, and in the winter it's bitterly cold. In Azraq particularly, where there is no electricity, people are really suffering. It's a scandal that the international community are not fulfilling their pledges to support those who have lost their homes and livelihoods through no fault of their own. Twelve year old Omar and his brothers and sisters were born and raised in the beautiful city of Bosra in Syria. Omar doesn't care about politics. He just wants to grow up to become a successful businessman who will take the world by storm. but his older brother Musa is desperate to play his part in the struggle against oppression while their sister, Eman, has only one ambition - to finish her education and become a teacher. After attending the university in Bristol, Laird began teaching English in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She and a friend would hire mules and go into remote areas in the holidays.

Reviews

Although Welcome to Nowhere is set before the development of the extreme Muslim group, ISIS, Elizabeth Laird provides an accurate description of the lives of Syrians and refugees at this present moment. Most young readers, and possibly many adults, may not understand what caused the current refugee crisis and may even regard them as the enemy. This book will open hearts and minds after revealing the terror and destruction thousands of people have faced, their experience of refugee camps and their desperation to be able to live in safety. Halfway throughout the book I started questioning what age group this was targeted towards, before realising it was a children’s book. As such, I thought it was an excellent read. I think this is a brilliant way of informing younger generations, including myself, on what is really going on outside of our own country whilst ensuring that the focus is on the emotional impact the Syrian war has had on its people, rather than the politics of it all, which can seem overwhelming and dehumanising in the newspapers. This book emphasises the basic concept that lives have been ruined by this war. Real people who had lives like we do, who have been stripped down of everything they loved, becoming another faceless somebody amongst a sea of refugees. Laird was born in New Zealand in 1943, the fourth of five children. Her father was a ship's surgeon; both he and Laird's mother were Scottish. In 1945, Laird and her family returned to Britain and she grew up in South London, where she was educated at Croydon High School. Twelve-year-old Omar and his brothers and sisters were born and raised in the beautiful and bustling city of Bosra, Syria. Omar doesn’t care about politics – all he wants is to grow up to become a successful businessman who will take the world by storm. But when his clever older brother, Musa, gets mixed up with some young political activists, everything changes . . . Läbivaks teemaks oli teoses ka haridus. Omari emal seda muidugi polnud, kuigi ta oli kunagi üle kõige tahtnud õpetajaks saada. Ema rõõmuks jagab tema ammust unistust ka pere vanim tütar Eman, kes on koolis suurepärane õpilane, kuid kelle isa peatse kolimise ning pulmaplaanide tõttu tahab koolist ära võtta. Omar ise käib küll koolis, kuid vihkab seda kogu hingest. Omar ei näe koolipingi nühkimisel mõtet, kuna tema loodab hoopis äri teha ning selle läbi kiiresti rikkaks saada.

I’ve read several of Laird’s books in the past and enjoyed them, especially her early books, but her last few have been disappointing in both quality and content, having lost any of the sensitivity, depth of character, and evident good research that made her early books enjoyable. I would have given a rating closer to 3.5 but I thought that it was more worthy of four stars than three. Author Anna Kemp introduces The Hollow Hills, the sequel to her dark magical tale, Into Goblyn Wood. Omar is 12 and he is proud of his town called Bosra in the country of Syria. Omar doesn't enjoy school like his older sister Eman and brother Musa. But life is good and he dreams of the day of being a businessman like his cousin and uncle. Elizabeth Lairdi noorteromaan “Tere tulemast eikuhugi” on üks neist raamatutest, mis väga lihtsakoeliselt, kuid tõhusalt avab noorte silmaringi ning õpetab olulisi tõdesid inimese väärtushinnangute kohta. Raamatu peategelaseks on teismeline poiss Omar, kes elab oma 6-liikmelise perega Süürias ühes kenas väikeses linnas. Omar on usin poiss, kes üritab leida tasakaalu oma kahe töökoha ja kooli vahel. Tema suurim unistus on kunagi saada suureks ärimeheks ja avada oma enda turismipood. Poisi unistused saavad aga purustatud, kui päikselises Süürias puhkeb äkitselt kodusõda ja Omari perekond on sunnitud põgenema ühest kohast teise kuni jõuavad lõpuks üle piiri Jordaania põgenikelaagrisse.Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... Leian, et kuna loo jutustab 12-aastane poisike Omar, on kogu teosel vaatamata sündmuste raskusele oma lapselik ja mänguline hõng juures. Tean, et see raamat on just seetõttu ka palju kriitikat saanud, kuidas autor nii valusaid teemasid lugejale kergemalt lugeda toob ning selle kõige juurde nn igapäevasust annab. Isiklikult leian, et kogu see mahategemine ei ole niivõrd õigustatud, kuna tegemist on siiski noorteromaaniga, mille eesmärk ongi eelkõige just nooremale lugejale arusaadavaks teha inimeste kannatusi, kelle saatus ei ole enam tingimata nende endi kätes ning selgitada sõja kui mõõtmatute tapatalgute tagajärgi. See annab mõista, et sõda ei ole vaid mängulahingud, mida lapsed üksteise vastu lume või veepüstolitega peavad.

I was filled with admiration for the resourcefulness and patience of the Syrian people who are managing somehow to look after their families, to care for each other, and retain their spirit and dignity in such tough circumstances. However, I really loved the characters in this novel. There was such a diverse range of personalities throughout the story, and I was moved by how similar some of them were to people in my own life. It made me realise how this could easily have been me in their place. Overall, they were all so strong, each fighting their own internal battles as well as their shared ones. Each character was so unique and wonderful I just wished this book could have been longer to explore them a lot further, and build the relationships between them to a deeper level. When she was eighteen, Laird started teaching at a school in Malaysia. She decided to continue her adventurous life, even though she was bitten by a poisonous snake and went down with typhoid.

Synopsis

The only thing I will point out, which is a very little annoyance, was the ending. You can stop reading now if you don't want to know how it ends, but for those who do, it ends with the youngest daughter (2 years old I believe she was) having a heart condition and therefore they were all able to acquire visas to go to London for her treatment with help and references from the camp clinic. It ends with the siblings staying up all night talking about their plans and how their life is going to change once they get to the UK etc. It ended on such a high and positive note, and was portrayed as if all their problems will end once they reach London and I didn't really think that was very realistic. They may have better lives than the one they were leading at the Zaatari camp, but it doesn't mean it's going to be any easier. To learn a new language, to try and fit into a completely different culture and society, to be Arabs and Muslims in a Western country, to always be labeled as refugees...the journey doesn't end there, the struggle doesn't end there. This is just the beginning, and I had hoped that would be conveyed in a more realistic sense.