Home Is Not a Country, Safia Elhillo
Home Is Not a Country, Safia Elhillo
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Home Is Not a Country

Author: Safia Elhillo

Narrator: Safia Elhillo, Christopher Myers

Unabridged: 3 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/02/2021


Synopsis

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • A CORETTA SCOTT KING HONOR BOOK • A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE CENTURY

“Nothing short of magic.” —Elizabeth Acevedo, New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X

From the  acclaimed poet featured on Forbes Africa’s “30 Under 30” list, this powerful novel-in-verse captures one girl, caught between cultures, on an unexpected journey to face the ephemeral girl she might have been. Woven through with moments of lyrical beauty, this is a tender meditation on family, belonging, and home.

my mother meant to name me     for her favorite flower
its sweetness     garlands made     for pretty girls
i imagine her    yasmeen     bright & alive
& i ache to have been born her     instead

Nima wishes she were someone else. She doesn’t feel understood by her mother, who grew up in a different land. She doesn’t feel accepted in her suburban town; yet somehow, she isn't different enough to belong elsewhere. Her best friend, Haitham, is the only person with whom she can truly be herself. Until she can't, and suddenly her only refuge is gone.

As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen—the name her parents meant to give her at birth—Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might be more real than Nima knows.  And the life Nima wishes were someone else's. . . is one she will need to fight for with a fierceness she never knew she possessed.

About The Author

Safia Elhillo is the author of the poetry collection The January Children, which received the the 2016 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets and a 2018 Arab American Book Award.Sudanese by way of Washington, DC, she holds an MFA from The New School, a Cave Canem Fellowship, and a 2018 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. Safia is a Pushcart Prize nominee, co-winner of the 2015 Brunel International African Poetry Prize, and listed in Forbes Africa's 2018 "30 Under 30." She is a 2019-2021 Stegner Fellow at Stanford University.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Elizabeth on August 24, 2020

So lucky to have read this novel in advance! Safia's verse is awe-inspiring and the world she's built is lush and wonderous.......more

Goodreads review by Kai on April 27, 2021

If Elizabeth Acevedo and Nina LaCour wrote a book together, I have a feeling it would look something like this.......more

Goodreads review by Sheena on February 07, 2021

Going into this book I had no idea what to expect aside from the fact that it was told in verse and compared to Elizabeth Acevedo and Jason Reynolds. The first part of the book discusses racism, bullying, and trying to find acceptance in yourself. Yasmeen is obsessed with another version of herself......more

Goodreads review by Creya on February 28, 2021

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Nima and her mother have fled their homeland in search of the American dream. Unfortunately Nima does not feel like she belongs in America at all. She is often excluded and b......more

Goodreads review by BookNightOwl on March 21, 2021

I love books that our written in verse. Even though I found the writing beautiful it left me wanting more of a story instead of the back and forth timeline.......more


Quotes

Movingly unravels themes of belonging, Islamophobia, and the interlocking oppressions thrust upon immigrant women.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

[A] surreal crash-course in perspective, agency, and self-love.” —Booklist, starred review

“Artfully profound and achingly beautiful, Elhillo’s verse aptly explores diasporic yearning for one’s home and a universal fascination with possibilities.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Elhillo's tender and descriptive writing may leave readers feeling the need to live life to the fullest…[a] passionate, piercing YA collection of poems." —Shelf Awareness, starred review 

“A love letter to anyone who has ever been an outsider, or searched to understand their history, no matter where they come from.” —NPR

"Richly imagined [...] An immersive experience of the intersectionality of gender, class, race, religion, and identity." —The Horn Book






Awards

  • National Book Award for Young People's Literature