Dear World
eBook - ePub

Dear World

A Syrian Girl's Story of War and Plea for Peace

  1. 224 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Dear World

A Syrian Girl's Story of War and Plea for Peace

About this book

“A story of love and courage amid brutality and terror, this is the testimony of a child who has endured the unthinkable.” —J.K. Rowling

“I’m very afraid I will die tonight.” —Bana Alabed, Twitter, October 2, 2016
“Stop killing us.” —Bana Alabed, Twitter, October 6, 2016
“I just want to live without fear.” —Bana Alabed, Twitter, October 12, 2016

When seven-year-old Bana Alabed took to Twitter to describe the horrors she and her family were experiencing in war-torn Syria, her heartrending messages touched the world and gave a voice to millions of innocent children.

Bana’s happy childhood was abruptly upended by civil war when she was only three years old. Over the next four years, she knew nothing but bombing, destruction, and fear. Her harrowing ordeal culminated in a brutal siege where she, her parents, and two younger brothers were trapped in Aleppo, with little access to food, water, medicine, or other necessities.

Facing death as bombs relentlessly fell around them—one of which completely destroyed their home—Bana and her family embarked on a perilous escape to Turkey.

In Bana’s own words, and featuring short, affecting chapters by her mother, Fatemah, Dear World is not just a gripping account of a family endangered by war; it offers a uniquely intimate, child’s perspective on one of the biggest humanitarian crises in history. Bana has lost her best friend, her school, her home, and her homeland. But she has not lost her hope—for herself and for other children around the world who are victims and refugees of war and deserve better lives.

Dear World is a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit, the unconquerable courage of a child, and the abiding power of hope. It is a story that will leave you changed.

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Yes, you can access Dear World by Bana Alabed in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Social Science Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Author’s Note
  5. I was born with a smile on my face.
  6. I wanted to live in Syria always.
  7. Nothing helped us to forget Baba wasn’t there.
  8. “Are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay?”
  9. We all knew what to do when we heard the bombs.
  10. We had to try to forget the war and be normal.
  11. “What if they are dead?”
  12. “Stop shooting at us!”
  13. There was nowhere that was safe anymore.
  14. I hated the war.
  15. I prayed for a girl.
  16. “It’s time to leave.”
  17. “Don’t cry, Bon Bon, I will see you soon.”
  18. All we needed was Baba.
  19. His name means “light.”
  20. When you’re homesick, you feel better when you go home.
  21. I didn’t want my little brother to ever have to feel afraid.
  22. Maybe we could learn how to stop the war.
  23. “How was your day, little one?”
  24. Hope is when you feel like the world is beautiful.
  25. “Just bombs, bombs, bombs.”
  26. What does it feel like to die?
  27. I wouldn’t get to play with her ever again.
  28. “I can’t believe they could be this cruel.”
  29. We took turns helping each other have hope.
  30. I prayed that the plan would work.
  31. You can almost feel like it’s real.
  32. Every day there was less and less of everything.
  33. Maybe someone would do something before it was too late.
  34. I was afraid people wouldn’t believe us.
  35. #StandwithAleppo
  36. “You will face death.”
  37. Like I was dead, but I wasn’t yet.
  38. Our home was gone.
  39. What would happen if the army found us?
  40. I had never felt worse inside before.
  41. It might have been that my heart was sick.
  42. We had nowhere to go.
  43. God is the best Protector.
  44. We had nowhere to run.
  45. You can’t imagine how happy we were to hear this.
  46. I had to get to those buses.
  47. I almost couldn’t even believe it.
  48. We are safe now.
  49. This is my wish.
  50. Thank you from Bana.
  51. About the Author
  52. Copyright