SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Manga
  • All Ages
  • Young Adult
  • Interviews
  • News

January 31, 2019 by Esther Keller

Review: The Unwanted

January 31, 2019 by Esther Keller   Leave a Comment

unwantedI hide from the news. I find it unpleasant and for the most part, close my eyes, cover my ears, and think that ignorance is bliss. It doesn’t always work, because I don’t live in a total cocoon. My husband is a news junkie and always likes to share his opinion on world events. (We mostly disagree!) There’s social media. And I wake up to the radio. So of course, I know about the refugee crisis, but since I catch news events in snatches, I often don’t have a full picture, until I start to delve into something I heard, either looking for a round up of news articles or reading books. I was grateful to pick up Don Brown’s The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees, because he both gives an unbiased picture and explains how it all started.

The Unwanted: Stories of Syrian Refugees
By Don Brown
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018
$18.99 hc/ Grades 9 and up

I’ve had a copy of this book sitting on my desk, read and ready to review, for some time. But given that this title received so much attention during this year’s book award season, I had to prioritize this review.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Using clear and simple text, Brown offers a solid picture of how the Civil War in Syria led to so many people flooding the borders, eager to leave at whatever cost. He describes the difficult journey people took to save themselves. How countries just didn’t want the floods of people coming out of Syria, and how many of these refugees were kept in large, unsanitary camps until countries figured out what to do with them.

The beautiful artwork gives an overall somber feeling with soft and dark color tones to give off the proper effect. Brown uses a hint of abstraction in the way he draws people, as if to say, this could be anyone. He uses muted, soft colors, mostly in grays, browns, and oranges, to capture the mood, the desert setting.

An afterward, describing Brown’s research and first-hand visits to the refugee camps and extensive source notes and bibliography, gives readers a solid basis to explore more on this topic. Teachers and Librarians can pair this with Ian Colfer’s Illegal to demonstrate that when people leave their home countries, they are often leaving in the hopes of a better life. And though this fiction title is younger than Brown’s Unwanted, readers who are interested in this topic might want to read Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh, which offers a European perspective to the story.

This book is fodder for both discussion and further research. It is a worthwhile addition to your reading list and library shelves. In addition, the book is suggested for high school students, but Junior High School students could handle the content. Most of the violence is shown “off panel.”

Filed under: Graphic Novels, Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
nonfictionrefugeessiebert honoryalsa nonfiction award

About Esther Keller

Esther Keller is the librarian at JHS 278, Marine Park in Brooklyn, NY. There she started the library's first graphic novel collection and strongly advocated for using comics in the classroom. She also curates the Graphic Novel collection for the NYC DOE Citywide Digital Library. She started her career at the Brooklyn Public Library and later jumped ship to the school system so she could have summer vacation and a job that would align with a growing family's schedule. On the side, she is a mother of 4 and regularly reviews for SLJ and School Library Connection (formerly LMC). In her past life, she served on the Great Graphic Novels for Teens Committee where she solidified her love and dedication to comics.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

August 2023

Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story | Review

by Esther Keller

August 2023

Norma & Belly | Series Review

by Esther Keller

August 2023

Akane-banashi, vol. 1 | Review

by Esther Keller

July 2023

Adventures in Cartooning | Series Review

by Esther Keller

July 2023

Daemons of the Shadow Realm, vol. 1 | Review

by Esther Keller

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

A JUST ONE FLAKE Preorder Secret

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Apply for the Bechtel Fellowship, You Clever Librarians Out There!

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Nell Of Gumbling | This Week’s Comics

by Lori Henderson

Heavy Medal

Newbery Possibilities on the National Book Award Longlist

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Book Review: The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Peter Brown Visits The Yarn to talk about The Wild Robot Protects

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Graphic Novel Series Updates for Both Die-Hard Fans and New Readers

PEN America and Trust Project Release Newsroom Transparency Tracker | News Bites

Eight Graphic Works that Offer Fresh Perspectives on the Past | Stellar Panels

Latinx Graphic Novels to the Fore | Stellar Panels

15 Middle Grade & YA Graphic Novels & Audiobooks for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023