When Stars Are Scattered, Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

If you liked New Kid (by Jerry Craft), then I think you’ll also enjoy When Stars Are Scattered. It’s a possible cure for entitlement.

The story centres around two orphaned Somali brothers living in a large refugee ‘camp’ in Kenya. The older one, Omar does everything he can to keep his younger, disabled brother, Hassan safe and fed. At the start of the book Omar is about 11, he doesn’t remember much about the early years of his life, he doesn’t go to school and he is frustrated by the conditions he lives in.

I don’t want to give too much away about the boys’ specific story, but readers are shown not just the physical challenges, but the emotional turmoil that refugees experience. They always have to have hope that life will change and that progression is possible, all the while dealing with the restrictions that poverty, legal red-tape and lack of opportunity place upon them. A character mentions that the refugee camp is like a prison, and readers will see how true that comparison is, and thus how traumatic it must be for children to grow up there.

We have loved other graphic novels from Victoria Jamieson (Roller Girl), and this is her best one yet. She worked with Omar Mohamed to capture his true story of resilience and determination, while also adding fictional characters who experience similar events to what Omar saw in the camp. Particularly the experiences of the female refugees who work, study, care and survive.

Some events and themes are quite serious. For example, there is a flashback sequence to his experiences in Somalia. But the craftsmanship of Victoria Jamieson to present these topics in a way that isn’t sugar-coated but also not too scary is the genius of this book .

A few years ago I wrote a blog post about how a children’s book can change the world. This is the type of book I was talking about. It give kids a clear, truthful insight into the life circumstances of someone they may never get to meet. It helps put the challenges we face in Australia into perspective.