ARC Book Review: Nowhere Boy

I am behind on my book logs, but I had to recommend another title first. In May I joined NetGalley to read Advance Reader Copies of books before they're published in exchange for honest reviews (long story stort: Leif Enger's upcoming novel was my initial incentive, although there are so many great titles being published that it was no burden to browse).

As I was reflecting on categories that were most of interest to me, children's fiction was at the top of the list. I enjoy discovering picture books with my daughters, and with an advanced reader in my 7-year-old, I'm always looking for exceptional chapter books. Enter Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh. The cover alone is engaging and colorful. When I learned it involved an American boy and a Syrian boy crossing paths in Brussels, I began immediately.

Thirteen-year-old Max and his family are from the United States but have relocated to Belgium for a year. He's less than enthused about attending a school in French and isn't afraid to let his parents know his opinion. Ahmed is a 14-year-old Syrian refugee, fleeing the violence in Aleppo while grieving the loss of family members. Both boys are lost and struggling, just trying to survive their circumstances.

Each chapter alternate point of view, a style which works well for this format. When the boys meet and become friends, under the cover of secrecy, both slowly open up and begin to trust. A kindred friendship develops, and it is through Ahmed that Max begins to feel at home, connect with others, and have a cause that he feels strongly about.

The terror events that happened in Paris and Brussels are also set against the backdrop of this book, and it's a powerful, timely piece on what the experience of a refugee is like.

This is a little out of my daughter's league for subject matter (it would be more appropriate for upper elementary or middle school students), but I already know a couple families who would love this book. It's relevant and as I read it, I kept reflecting on how powerful this story is -- it is polished and researched and feels so real. Themes of justice and morality are addressed (particularly the tension of what we are called to do because it is right even if the laws don't condone it). There's suspense and action in the book that it's easy to stay engaged; I could envision a classroom doing a interdisciplinary unit on it.

Parts of the story are inspired by Albert Jonnart, a lawyer whose family harbored a Jewish boy during WWII (Max lives on Jonnart Street). They were turned in by neighbors and Albert went to prison for hiding the boy.

At the close of the book, there's a short Q&A with the author, which revealed how Katherine Marsh was able to write such a well-done, relevant book. We learn her family moved to Brussels for her husband's job as a journalist, and they rented a home on Jonnart Street. Brussels offered a front-row seat to the refugee crisis and Marsh found herself reflecting on the story of Jonnart as well as how it could be recreated under a modern lens.

This is a special book, no question.

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