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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. Sügavalt uuritakse teoses aga Omari vanemat venda Musat, kes põeb tserebraalparalüüsi. See on haigus, mille tõttu ei saa poiss korralikult ning arusaadavalt rääkida, lisaks hakkavad tema käed haiguse tagajärjel mõnikord tahtmatult tõmblema ning samuti on häiritud tema liikumine. Poissi peetakse haiguse tõttu hälvikuks ja narritakse sandiks, kuid asi, mida paljud tema kohta ei tea, on see, et poiss on tegelikult geenius. Tema riigivastane skeemitamine jääb haiguse tõttu tihtipeale ka kontrollivatel riigiametnikel märkamata, mis annab poisi loole kohati ka kerge huumorivõtme, kuid enamjaolt saab lugeda hoopis haigesse poissi mõnitavalt suhtuvatest inimestest ning nende põhjendamatutest eelarvamustest poisi suhtes. Street demonstrations and slogans are followed by government reprisals, and the whole of Syria is soon engulfed in a cruel civil war. When the bombs start falling, Omar and his family have no choice but to flee their homes with only what they can carry. The shadow of war follows them, until at last they have no choice but to flee their homeland altogether. 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.

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. This entire book reads like the first draft of an overly long plot summary rather than a novel. Everything is generic and incredibly rushed. It’s mostly all telling rather than showing, uses a crazy amount of passive voice and summarising, and is littered with typos (the sister ‘baldly’ saying something was a funny example) and a lot of very jarring and obviously British phrases (‘more fool you’, ‘blokes’, ‘dodgy’, etc.) that were just plain annoying and didn’t make me feel Laird had done much research at all, let alone actually met and talked with refugees or even kids/teenagers. The kids especially just felt like stereotyped British kids written by an adult who honestly doesn’t know how kids actually talk. There was also a large muddle of other odd and wrongly-placed words/phases — do mosques really have ‘sermons’, for example? Even if it’s a similar thing in terms of a religious leader teaching a crowd, I strongly doubt Islam uses the Christian term for it. 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. 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. Before long, bombs are falling, people are dying, and Omar and his family have no choice but to flee their home with only what they can carry. Yet no matter how far they run, the shadow of war follows them - until they have no other choice than to attempt the dangerous journey to escape their homeland altogether. But where do you go when you can't go home?

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I'm really not very impressed with this, but that may be just me, as I have never really enjoyed Elizbeth Laird's books. I find them very flat and boring, and this one didn't feel any different from any of her other works. I think it is her writing style that I don't like, because I do appreciate the importance of the stories she tells, and I just think the execution of them is the thing that lets me down. 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. Elizabeth Laird’s subversive brilliance shines in new and unexpected ways with this masterpiece. The language, the story, and the personalities of each character are displayed finely throughout the text. This book, which was published in 2017 has historical references to the Syrian war which happened in March 2011.

The winners of the Diverse Book Awards 2023 have been announced, with one winner from each of the four categories announced: Picture book, Children... This story ends on a cliffhanger leaving the readers in suspense about what is going to happen next. Is Nadia going to be alright? Are the Hooligans going to follow them? Will the people in London be nice? 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.Taking this journey with Omar and his family and really living these events with him, experiencing life as it was before the war and contrasting it with life during the war really puts things into perspective. I wasn't sure Elizabeth Laird would pull it off, but she did. Reading the descriptions of Syria before the war, the streets, the people, the markets, their lives...it made me so nostalgic, but also devastated at the immense loss.

Author Anna Kemp introduces The Hollow Hills, the sequel to her dark magical tale, Into Goblyn Wood. 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 . . . Omar is only twelve, yet has a life style that will seem alien to the majority of readers. Living in Syria, Omar works to earn a wage as well as attends school, whilst also helping to care for his Cerebral-Palsy-suffering brother and three other siblings. Although Omar’s life is not easy, it is preferable to the events he is soon about to witness. 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.

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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. 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. 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. 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. 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.