Review: Safiyyah's War
Safiyyah's War
by Hiba Noor Khan
Alida (imprint of HarperCollins), 2024
Category: Middle Grade
Reviewer: Stacey Rattner
Buy at Bookshop.org
War has come to Paris and 11 year old Safiyyah is navigating her life now that her best friend has fled to the country, her older cousin has joined the army, and Nazi soldiers are roaming the streets. When Safiyyah and her little cousin wonder if they will leave too, her father tells her that they will remain in Paris, living at their mosque. “It is our responsibility to our community. The congregation, as well as our neighbors of all faiths, need us, and in difficult times it’s more important than ever that we stick together.” And that is exactly what they do–stick together for each other, all faiths, including Jewish.
Safiyyah’s family become critical players in the Resistance. Her father explains why. “How could we hope to sleep at night if we sat back and allowed the oppression of our neighbors, our brothers and sisters in humanity…?” This overflowing of kindness remains a common theme. Safiyyah joins in the efforts, too, running errands and exchanging paperwork for the Resistance. In the mosque, Jews are cleverly hidden in the women’s section, an area that would be too sacred to allow the Nazis to search.
This book was riveting, with beautiful descriptive prose from start to finish. All the characters were memorable, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough as I rooted for Safiyyah, whose love of maps helped her become the strong heroine she deserved to be.
I hope people young and old, of all religions and ethnicities, read this book. There is so much hope, acceptance, and love for all humanity on nearly every page. The interwovenness of Safiyyah’s family in the Resistance makes it a strong contender for the Sydney Taylor award. The Jewish characters are believable and lovable. I couldn’t help but pray constantly that they would remain safe throughout the book.
If you read the author’s note at the end, you’ll find that she did extensive research on how the Parisian Muslim community saved hundreds of Jews through their Resistance efforts, a part of World War II history that I was not aware of. Although Safiyyah’s story is fictional, we all benefit from learning and imagining the many Muslim heroes and heroines who saved our ancestors' lives.
Reviewer Stacey “Leaping Librarian” Rattner is an elementary school librarian in upstate New York. In addition to leaping, she loves to rtravel, hike, drink coffee, play her ukuele, hang with family and of course, read. Stacey is also the co-host of the middle grade YouTube quiz show, Author Fan Face-off with author Steve Sheinkin.
War has come to Paris and 11 year old Safiyyah is navigating her life now that her best friend has fled to the country, her older cousin has joined the army, and Nazi soldiers are roaming the streets. When Safiyyah and her little cousin wonder if they will leave too, her father tells her that they will remain in Paris, living at their mosque. “It is our responsibility to our community. The congregation, as well as our neighbors of all faiths, need us, and in difficult times it’s more important than ever that we stick together.” And that is exactly what they do–stick together for each other, all faiths, including Jewish.
Safiyyah’s family become critical players in the Resistance. Her father explains why. “How could we hope to sleep at night if we sat back and allowed the oppression of our neighbors, our brothers and sisters in humanity…?” This overflowing of kindness remains a common theme. Safiyyah joins in the efforts, too, running errands and exchanging paperwork for the Resistance. In the mosque, Jews are cleverly hidden in the women’s section, an area that would be too sacred to allow the Nazis to search.
This book was riveting, with beautiful descriptive prose from start to finish. All the characters were memorable, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough as I rooted for Safiyyah, whose love of maps helped her become the strong heroine she deserved to be.
I hope people young and old, of all religions and ethnicities, read this book. There is so much hope, acceptance, and love for all humanity on nearly every page. The interwovenness of Safiyyah’s family in the Resistance makes it a strong contender for the Sydney Taylor award. The Jewish characters are believable and lovable. I couldn’t help but pray constantly that they would remain safe throughout the book.
If you read the author’s note at the end, you’ll find that she did extensive research on how the Parisian Muslim community saved hundreds of Jews through their Resistance efforts, a part of World War II history that I was not aware of. Although Safiyyah’s story is fictional, we all benefit from learning and imagining the many Muslim heroes and heroines who saved our ancestors' lives.
Are you interested in reviewing books for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze? Click here!
Comments
Post a Comment