by Andrea Davis Pinkney; illustrated by Shane W. Evans
When the Janjaweed, the armed, militia bandits, attack her village, her father is killed and Amira begins a dreaded, parched journey to a refugee camp. Now her prayer is to, “Make this end soon.” Based on true accounts, Amira’s story is told in verse and line drawings. They are both simple yet poignant, sparse yet very descriptive. While waiting on line for the water giver to given them their ration of water and hoping for more, she thinks,
“It’s hard
Waiting for what is not enough.
It’s like wishing on a thimble.”
When “spitting bullets” come from the sky to destroy their camp, Pinkney’s use of the word “Dot!” to describe the bullet and the placement of the word on the page is viscerally powerful.
When a visiting relief worker gives Amira a red pencil, her withered emotional state begins to open up. Her creative spirit, her “sparrow,” begins to flutter and Amira again dreams of learning and drawing. She must decide what she must do in order to keep herself and her spirit alive.
Amira’s journey is filled with dreams of terror and of hope for herself and for her family. After reading and sharing this powerful book, educators and parents will find that it will provoke questions and open up discussions for all middle grade readers.