Swan Dive

July 26, 2019

Gr 9 Up-Cris is writing his story because his therapist told him to. She tells him, "You're the hero of your story" and asks him what kind of hero he wants to be. Cris isn't sure about much of anything, except that he isn't a hero, but he writes his story nonetheless. In journal entries that go from the present in 1999 to various points in his past, Cris slowly reveals the reason he is in therapy and estranged from his best friend Elle. He writes about his therapy sessions, his family's escape from Sarajevo, and becoming friends with Elle after settling in Winnipeg, Canada. The narrative meanders as Cris avoids writing about a lie he told and the effect it had. The author, who works with refugees in Winnipeg, inserts a lot of details about the former Yugoslavia and sprinkles in some Bosnian words and phrases. The book includes an essay titled "The Tragedy of Sarajevo for Curious Bystanders," attributed to one of Cris's sisters, which explains more about the history of Yugoslavia and why they had to flee Sarajevo. VERDICT A reflective novel that explores the complexity of the refugee experience, of families, and of friendship.-Mindy Rhiger, Hennepin County Library, MN

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2019
A Bosnian teen whose family fled Sarajevo for Winnipeg in the late 1990s struggles at home and at school. Told in journal entries that his therapist suggests he write, 15-year-old Cris relates his history and the experience he and his parents and three sisters have in their new home. This format works exceptionally well for the story, allowing Cris to offer a narrative that is matter-of-fact, bitingly funny, and intensely reflective of his internal state. He deals with the experience of otherness and the constriction of gender norms and writes plenty about his withdrawn but loving Muslim father; caring but almost comically critical Serbian Orthodox mother; and the distinctive personalities of his sisters. But mostly he focuses on his closest friend, Elle, an outspoken white girl who befriends him when they are in grade five. At first Cris accepts her friendship perfunctorily, but it eventually becomes central in his life even as she begins to change and seemingly grow away from him, a story arc linked to her weight loss. With few physical descriptions, whiteness is assumed throughout although a multiracial secondary character is called out for her appearance. A short exposition at the end by one of Cris' sisters gives a pithy overview of the political and religious history of Sarajevo. A brief, poignant novel that winds up a bit abruptly, this is a heartfelt exploration of one boy's experience as a refugee. (Fiction. 13-18)

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May 15, 2019
Grades 8-11 Life is pretty much a mess for 15-year-old Cris Spaho, but it's only partly his fault. It's not his fault that his family was caught in the 1992 siege of Sarajevo and miraculously fled to Winnipeg, but it is his fault when he lies to a friend about being seriously ill. In this postmodern epistolary novel, Cris narrates through a diary at the insistence of his therapist, Budgie. She believes that his refugee experience must have traumatized him, but Cris' issues, for the most part, have more to do with his own choices concerning his friendship with his closest friend, Elle, who seems to be growing apart from him. A host of characters move through this story, all viewed affectionately through the sardonic gaze of this strange teenage boy. Cris is an astute observer of human foibles, and while his voice conjures Holden Caulfield at times, author Hasiuk deftly?and often humorously?handles the emotional, literary, and historical material. There's much to appreciate in this layered bildungsroman.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)