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Coming from a large family, ten in all, where the author is the third youngest, he still has his responsibilities as a brother, to take care of his sisters. His extended family provides him with numerous male cousins with whom he shares a very brotherly bond. While he and eight of his siblings are in school his father and older brother are running the family business, a successful bakery. The family continues, as best they can, to carry on with their normal lives within the community during this unusual time.
There were devastating moments, there were moments of panic, there were laughs and smiles and cheeky comments, there was love and brotherhood, their was pain and loss, and there was hope. To ask other readers questions aboutHomes,please sign up. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.
About Abu Bakr al Rabeeah
I also had the fortune to spend a good chunk of my childhood in northern Virginia, where there is quite a bit of diversity. My father’s next door neighbors are from Iran, and when I was 19, I dated a guy who had been born in Iran but had been sent with his mother to Canada to escape the religious revolution in 1979. I’ve always been taught to look at a person’s heart, not the color of his skin, and also that true Islam is a religion of love and peace. It’s the extremists that have taken this religion and twisted into one of hate and violence. In 2010, the al Rabeeah family left their home in Iraq in hope of a safer life.
Despite seeing it on the news regularly, I would say that I was pretty apathetic to it all. That isn’t to say that I didn’t understand the tragic nature of an endless war, but it’s difficult to comprehend the enormity of it all. Abu Bakr’s Homes puts a face and a family to the horrors of daily life halfway around the world. Thoughtfully created by internationally renowned interior design firm Cecconi Simone, City Homes provides a familiar yet novel approach to urban living. The spacious, private residences offer a serene multilevel escape to entertain, relax, work and live comfortably, with two and three bedroom homes available.
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Homes is a gracefully written book that really captures what this year's Canada Reads theme is - a book to move you. It's the story of a young boy's life growing up in the midst of the civil war in Syria as his family hopes to be approved for refugee status in Canada. Entirely told from his perspective, it offers a unique context to the important issues of war, violence, faith, and the ongoing refugee crisis. Even the fact that this book is the result of that boy, finally living in Canada, dictating his story to his favourite teacher is moving enough all its own. As someone who’s always had the safety of a stable country and a life free from daily violence, it’s hard to imagine life in a war zone.
He shares the perspective of a young boy coming to terms with leaving his country, his family, his friends and being thrown into a Canadian winter, attending school and having to learn to speak English. Homes is the remarkable true story of how a young boy emerged from a war zone — and found safety in Canada — with a passion for sharing his story and telling the world what is truly happening in Syria. As told to her by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah, writer Winnie Yeung has crafted a heartbreaking, hopeful, and urgently necessary book that provides a window into understanding Syria.
Books by Nicola Barber
He finds a man’s jawbone on his father’s property and gives it a proper burial. Keep in mind he is a child; these are things no child should have to endure. It’s obvious why this book has affected so many people-it paints a vivid picture explaining why we may fear refugees when they come to our country, but this fear is so clearly unfounded. Bakr admits that when he came to Edmonton, those first few months he was angry and frustrated. So many people would condemn these feelings, claiming he should just be grateful for escaping the danger of Syria-which he most certainly is. And yet, as Canadians, we demand these refugees be forever happy and grateful just to be in a place that we so often complain about ourselves.
Abu Bakr al Rabeeah is a teenage Syrian refugee living in Edmonton with his family. There, he met ESL teacher Winnie Yeung, and they embarked together on the project of telling his and his family’s story. Also the immense challenges faced by parents trying to keep their children safe in all of this, as well as, later, the difficulty of adapting to an entirely new culture, climate and language. What I love about this book is the voice; it breaks down the barriers of us vs. them, which is such a prevalent theme when it comes to stories of refugees. Instead, Bakr’s childhood is one that seems familiar to me, and will ring true for many Western readers.
City Homes
Finally, fed up with a life lived in fear, the family moves to the town of Homs in Syria. Unfortunately, this is just prior to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. In an effort to find peace, they leave Homs for Damascus where the violence will again follow them.
It is refreshing in that it is his story, through his eyes; the book doesn’t go into the politics and geopolitics or anything else. This is just what Abu Bakr experienced living in Syria, and upon his arrival in Canada. The stories of refugees come from a variety of backgrounds and this one displays a new perspective. The day finally arrives when the approval as refugees is given and they are told they will leave for Canada in one month. This is one of the better books I have read on the refugee experience. 2019 Canada Reads selection- first one I tackled, mostly because of the length.
If this book doesn’t inspire and open your eyes idk what would. I can't stop thinking of the quote attributed to Plato. "Be kind, for every one you meet is fighting a hard battle." A good reminder to be patient with people who may not understand things right away. It's another library ebook that I enjoyed so much that I purchased it.
His ambitious book shares the stories of these stately dwelling using floor plans, architectural drawings and photos that detail interior architectural elements. As a kid growing up in Atchison, I loved the grand old beauties in the town’s historic neighborhood. The years Dan and I lived there, in our 130-year-old Greek revival, were some of my favorites.
Unfortunately, not long after their move to Syria, the country began to descend into civil war. Bakr spent years of his childhood seeing the destruction first-hand, from bombed buildings to death on the streets. He speaks of the ability to differentiate the odor of fresh blood spilled in the streets from the stench of a long-dead corpse buried in rubble.
For every person from Edmonton who lives overseas as an English teacher, this story will bring tears of pride to your eyes. Because Canada knows our responsibility to accept people running from horrible circumstances. Also, we have amazing, dedicated teachers who make dreams come true. For every person that has survived war and is trying to find a safe home for their children, this is a book of hope.
Bakr shares gratitude for being able to move to Canada, but also how that gratitude mixes with grief and guilt when he misses his home and family in Syria. Abu Bakr, one of eight children, was ten years old when the civil war broke out on the streets around him. HOMES is his remarkable true story of growing up in a war zone and ultimately finding safety in Canada. With his parent's blessing, Abu Bakr told his life's story to high school English teacher, Winnie Yeung in Edmonton.
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