A Land of Permanent Goodbyes

Starred review from November 13, 2017
In this gripping and heartrending novel, Abawi (The Secret Sky) follows a family of Syrian refugees, whose lives are changed when one of the feared “bombs that fell indiscriminately from the sky” destroys their apartment building. Teenage Tareq, his father, and his four-year-old sister, Susan, survive, but his mother, grandmother, and three other siblings die in the blast. All three flee the country, joining the endless stream of refugees desperately seeking safety. Destiny itself serves as an omniscient narrator, a device that helps to buffer readers from the relentless terror, hunger, and danger plaguing Tareq’s family: “To me, you are all from the same world. You have the same hearts, needs, wants and desires.” As the family journeys through Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Macedonia on their way to Germany, its configuration varies, most poignantly when Fayed pays smugglers to take his children in a perilously overcrowded boat bound for Greece. Newfound friendships and stories of volunteers pulling refugees from the Aegean provide elements of hope in this upsetting yet beautifully rendered portrayal of an ongoing humanitarian crisis. Ages 12–up. Agent: Stephen Barbara, Inkwell Management.

Leila Buck narrates this haunting tale of Tareq, a teenage boy who is trying to escape the political turmoil in Syria. In Europe he hopes to find a better life for his family. The omniscient narration is provided by none other than Destiny, and Buck speaks with the regal cadence one would expect of such a lofty narrator. Destiny occasionally interjects philosophical musings on the nature of humanity, helping listeners relate even more deeply to Tareq's struggles. At times, the story verges on a thriller, particularly when Tareq has a run-in with a human trafficker and Buck injects tension into her otherwise carefully metered voice. This timely, powerful audiobook is sure to stoke empathy in its listeners. S.P. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine