My New Home After Yemen

My New Home After Yemen is part of the “Leaving My Homeland: After the Journey” series from Crabtree Publishing. This series continues the fictional stories begun in Crabtree’ “Leaving My Homeland” series. The characters in these stories are young people who have been forced by circumstance to become refugees.

New Home After Yemen is the story of Sahar, a fictional child from Yemen who relocates to Canada after first spending time in a refugee camp in Djibouti.

Statistics, maps, background information about the homeland country, Yemen, set Sahar’s story in context. Also included are text boxes titled, “Story in Numbers”. Some examples of the numbers are:

Around 27.6 million people live in Yemen. 22.2 million people need help. That is 75 percent of the people there.

Typically, Canada accepts 20,000 to 40,000 refugees each year. In 2016, Canada accepted a record 46,700 refugees.

Combined with the fictional personal narratives, these statistics give a clear picture of the experiences of refugees.

Scattered through the book are different articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. These articles are a clear reminder that all refugees, including children, have rights. A resource listed at the end of the book leads the reader to a United Nations website that explains these rights in child-friendly language.

Like other books in the “Leaving My Homeland: After the Journey” series, My New Home After Yemen includes a table of contents, a simple glossary, an index, and a page of resources for additional information. Each book ends with a list of discussion prompts to help the reader recall and consolidate the information in the book.

Part of the story is told in the first person through Sahar’s letters and texts to a cousin back in Yemen. The letters and texts make it clear how Sahar’s life has changed. It is also clear how much the lives of her family and friends back in Yemen continue to be impacted by the ongoing conflict and persecution. Unfortunately, the situation in Yemen is getting worse each day.

The books in this series support global citizenship. Each book ends with a section titled, “Do Not Forget Our Stories!” Because Sahar has relocated to Canada, the information in this section refers directly to refugees in Canada.

Refugees and immigrants have helped shape Canada. They have helped add diversity to their communities by sharing their art, foods, and music. Refugees who work contribute to their new countries by paying taxes to the government. Many are doctors, nurses, and teachers. They create programs to help others and are important parts of their communities.

My New Home After Yemen provides a glimpse into the experiences of some of the newcomers in our Canadian classrooms. Hopefully, these stories will help those who have never been refugees gain some understanding and empathy for their new classmates.

Whether your school or community has a high number of refugee children or not, the books in this series belong in every library. All Canadian students need to understand.