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A review by misspalah
Nujeen: One Girl's Incredible Journey from War-Torn Syria in a Wheelchair by Christina Lamb, Nujeen Mustafa
4.0
"Since leaving Aleppo, we had travelled more than 3500 miles across nine countries from war to peace - A journey to a new life, like my name".
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This is a simple memoir written by A Syrian girl who are disabled and forced to fled a country. Despite not being able to walk, her courage to escape together with her siblings especially Nasrine, her sister should be lauded. I was particularly amazed with Nasrine, Nujeen's sister because she's never left her side. She's put up with almost anything Nujeen did even when Nujeen's bratty side sometimes comes out like refused to eat or being a fussy about things or just simply being a teenager.
.
.
Nujeen shared her story of growing as a girl that was born with a cerebral palsy, she's often got the "disability benefit". She's got away with almost anything even when she did throw away things that her sister loved the most. Being the youngest in her family and having a large gap of age among her siblings, she's connected with adults more rather than kids her own age. She's usually immobile throughout her whole life and has to endure sympathetic gaze from her relatives and faced a separation anxiety whenever her siblings got married and left the house.
.
.
Her parents stayed behind one of her brothers and let Nujeen tagged along with her sister and few of her relatives. The journey seems endless especially when they encountered few difficulties like a fraudulent smuggler that take their money but didn't turn up on the promised day or when Hungary was so unwelcome of refugees that they had to turned back and entered through Croatia and Slovenia.
.
.
Overall, this is an enlightening read particularly on a perspective of a disabled person. Her bluntness did make reading this book a little bit uncomfortable especially when she's taunting certain countries that along of her journey actually give her a place of protection and security compared to her hometown. Maybe it's just her teenager side talking, I guess.
.
.
This is a simple memoir written by A Syrian girl who are disabled and forced to fled a country. Despite not being able to walk, her courage to escape together with her siblings especially Nasrine, her sister should be lauded. I was particularly amazed with Nasrine, Nujeen's sister because she's never left her side. She's put up with almost anything Nujeen did even when Nujeen's bratty side sometimes comes out like refused to eat or being a fussy about things or just simply being a teenager.
.
.
Nujeen shared her story of growing as a girl that was born with a cerebral palsy, she's often got the "disability benefit". She's got away with almost anything even when she did throw away things that her sister loved the most. Being the youngest in her family and having a large gap of age among her siblings, she's connected with adults more rather than kids her own age. She's usually immobile throughout her whole life and has to endure sympathetic gaze from her relatives and faced a separation anxiety whenever her siblings got married and left the house.
.
.
Her parents stayed behind one of her brothers and let Nujeen tagged along with her sister and few of her relatives. The journey seems endless especially when they encountered few difficulties like a fraudulent smuggler that take their money but didn't turn up on the promised day or when Hungary was so unwelcome of refugees that they had to turned back and entered through Croatia and Slovenia.
.
.
Overall, this is an enlightening read particularly on a perspective of a disabled person. Her bluntness did make reading this book a little bit uncomfortable especially when she's taunting certain countries that along of her journey actually give her a place of protection and security compared to her hometown. Maybe it's just her teenager side talking, I guess.