Home Is Beyond the Mountains

Gr 6-10 When nine-year-old Samira and her family leave their Persian village, fleeing war in 1918, it is the beginning of a five-year odyssey in which she crosses national borders, loses both parents, and creates new family connections before her return, thanks to a determined orphanage director, Susan Shedd. This moving and suspenseful survival story is based on historical events; the director of the Hamadan orphanage in the country now called Iran was the author's aunt. Lottridge focuses her third-person narrative on Samira, imagining details of her prewar daily life, the horrors of the Assyrians' flight, the worlds of refugee camps and orphanages, and the long journey home, and bringing them to life for readers 90 years removed. Escaping Turks and Kurds, Samira and her brother had walked to Hamadan; returning, they were joined by more than 300 other refugee children, traveling the 300 miles on foot in "families" of 12 children organized and led by the redoubtable Miss Shedd. Out of sad, nearly forgotten history comes this triumphant story."Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD" Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc.