Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Samira Surfs by Rukhsanna Guidroz


 Samira and her family are refugees from Burma.  They have escaped to Bangladesh where there was no room for them at the refugee camp so they live outside of town.  Samira's grandparents drowned while crossing a river on their escape and it haunts Samira, to the point she is scared of water.  She and her older brother help the family bring in income.  He works in a cafe and she takes hard-boiled eggs to the tourists at the beach and sells them.  She sees girls her age surfing in the ocean and wants to do that, but she is scared of the water.  As Samira develops friendships with the girls she overcomes her fear and begins to surf.  A contest is made for surfing and Samira wants to enter, but her mother won't let her at first and eventually relents, but then the judges won't let her because she is a refugee.

Good story about refugees, muslim restrictions for girls, and family working together in love.  Written in verse it reads quickly and is a great book for kids to see how others live. 




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