Other Words for Home

“Through Jude’s eyes readers see firsthand what it is to leave behind one’s beloved home and family as many refugees do every single day. Young readers will laugh with Jude, cry with her, and root for her every step of the way. A beautiful, powerful, and necessary book for all readers.” — Aisha Saeed, New York Times bestselling author of Amal Unbound.“Through Jude’s eyes readers see firsthand what it is to leave behind one’s beloved home and family as many refugees do every single day. Young readers will laugh with Jude, cry with her, and root for her every step of the way. A beautiful, powerful, and necessary book.” — Aisha Saeed, New York Times bestselling author of Amal Unbound.“Other Words for Home is a gorgeously written middle grade novel with words that soar off the page. Jude’s story is a search for home, and an exploration of what happens when everything about home changes. Told in stunning verse and featuring an effortlessly lovable narrator, this book will be a staple of middle grade shelves for years to come.” — Rachel Strolle,Teen Librarian, Glenside Public Library“Other Words for Home is a gorgeously written middle grade novel with words that soar off the page. Told in stunning verse and featuring an effortlessly lovable narrator, this book will be a staple of middle grade shelves for years to come.” — Rachel Strolle, Teen Librarian, Glenside Public Library“Other Words for Home is a salve for the world we live in today. It’s a hope-filled story that doesn’t pander but instead peels back layers of culture and identity, fear and prejudice, exile and belonging, all wrapped around a young Syrian girl—Jude. Checked with equal parts fear and moxie, Jude is a heart trying to figure out how to beat outside the body. I ached for, but simultaneously found that though our stories are different, I am her. This is a necessary story. We’re lucky to have it in the world.” — Jason Reynolds, award-winning, bestselling author of Ghost and Long Way Down&#8220This is a necessary story. We’re lucky to have it in the world.” — Jason Reynolds award-winning bestselling author of Ghost and Long Way Down“This powerful middle grade novel explores the complicated concepts of war and corruption, home, family, [and] belonging…. Highly recommended for all libraries, this title will easily find a home next to books like Refugee by Alan Gratz and Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.” — School Library Journal (starred review)&#8220Convincing and authentic, infused with thoughtfulness, humor, determination, and hope…. A realistic portrait of the strength it takes to move to a new country, as well as of the complicated dynamics between first- and second-generation immigrants.” — Horn Book (starred review)“Jasmine Warga’s exceptional middle grade debut is a moving story about family, belonging, and the difficulty of straddling two cultures. The story is told in sure, thoughtful verse, with Warga skillfully drawing parallels between the political and social climates of both Syria and the U.S. through the eyes of an insightful and relatable main character, Jude.” — Sara Grochowski, Children’s Specialists, McLean & Eakin Booksellers“Other Words for Home is like a family recipe. At the beginning you know that this is cared for, curated, and passed down. There is an heirloom quality to this story and yet it is fresh and modern. Jude’s immigrant story is rich and light and full of personality. At the end, Jude has developed her own sense of home; she is at home with herself. This is not just an immigrant story—it’s a LIFE story.” — Amanda Connor, Kids Team Leader, Joseph-Beth Booksellers[In] this timely book… rhythmic lines distill Jude’s deepest emotions…. Warga effectively shows, as she writes in an author’s note, that “children who are fleeing from a war zone… want the same things all of us do—love, understanding, safety, a chance at happiness.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Warga portrays with extraordinary talent the transformation of a family’s life before and after the war began in Syria.… Her free-verse narration cuts straight to the bone… [and] confront[s] the difficult realities of being Muslim and Arab in the U.S. Poetic, immersive, hopeful.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Warga situates her verse novel at a sweet spot for middle-graders…the complications of assessing whether Jude is as lucky as everyone makes her out to be ring poignantly true, and when Jude takes her place on the school stage, Warga’s audience will surely applaud.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books“Warga’s middle-grade debut puts its hands around your heart and holds it, ever so gently, so that you’re aware of your own fragility and resilience: just as Jude is while her life changes drastically… Other Words for Home should find its way into every middle-grade reader’s hands.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)

Jasmine Warga is also the author of the teen books, Here We Are Now, and My Heart and Other Black Holes, which has been translated into over twenty languages. She lives and writes in Chicago, IL.