American Refuge: True Stories of the Refugee Experience by Diya Abdo # Emigrants & Immigrants Biographies #Publisher Steerforth Press #Book Review

MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW

I found this book very interesting as the author has brought into light true stories of refugee experiences by interviewing them at American Guilford College who are volunteers and students hosting their stories of displacement, of waiting in limbo, of resettlement, and the author Diya's own refugee story. As an adult immigrant to the US and a child of Palestinian refugees who was born and raised in Jordan ("the alternate homeland"), the author highlights some of the challenges that are unusual the refugees faced: affording safe housing, accessing appropriate health care, and finding fulfilling and well-paying work. Barrier of language is another trauma they carry. 

Refugees have so little times to settle in and find themselves in immediate poverty and debt - including the the airfare that needs to be paid back. To secure employment is the first and foremost necessity for refugees. Thier first job would be non-commensurate with thier skills, certifications, degrees, or interests, an added obstable as many credentials and degrees from thier home countries are not recognized in the US. To find employment and successfully integrate learning english and taking time to adjust emotionally, mentally, and culturally overtakes their needs. Sometimes the payments could be too low even to afford rent, not even mimimum wage either. The commute could be long and the work exhausting and painful. 

The author of this book gives impressive and brilliant definitions and latest statistics of refugees in the world today in a detailed manner. Everybody wants to be US, with US, in US. Everything else is worse - a Eurocentric/Americentric ideology - a harmful belief. I would rate this book 4 star!

I just reviewed the book, American Refuge: True Stories of the Refugee Experience by Diya Abdo. Thanks to the author Diya Abdo and Publisher Steerforth Press, and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book for my honest review.

              About the author Diya Abdo

                                            

Diya Abdo is the first daughter and granddaughter of Palestinian refugees to be born in their country of displacement, Jordan. Raised there, Diya received her undergraduate degree in English Language and Literature at Yarmouk University in the north of the country, a short car ride from Syria. She came to the U.S. as an International student in pursuit of a graduate degree and was a student at Drew University in NJ on Sept. 11th. A dedicated Americanist at the time, Diya’s professional and personal life trajectory were altered by the events of that day. She returned to Jordan and focused on Arab women writers and Arab and Islamic Feminisms. After a freedom of speech violation at her university in Jordan forced her to leave, Diya accepted a position in the English Department of Guilford College in Greensboro, NC in 2008. In 2015, moved by Pope Francis’ call on every parish to host a refugee family, she founded Every Campus A Refuge (ECAR) calling on every college and university to do the same. The flagship chapter at Guilford College, now one of several ECAR campuses, has hosted 80 refugees so far – 34 of them children – from Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Colombia, Ecuador, Afghanistan, and the DRC. Diya is the recipient of several national community engagement awards. Currently a full professor of English, she writes poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Her public essays focus on the intersection of gender, political identity, and vocation. She lives in Greensboro, NC with her partner, two daughters, and four cats.

Book Description

A provocative, conversation-sparking exploration of refugee experiences told in their own words, for readers of Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s The Undocumented Americans and Viet Thanh Nguyen
 
Forced to leave their homes, they came to America

In this intimate and eye-opening book, Diya Abdo--daughter of refugees, U.S. immigrant, English professor, and activist—shares the stories of seven refugees. Coming from around the world, they’re welcomed by Every Campus A Refuge (ECAR), an organization Diya founded to leverage existing resources at colleges to provide temporary shelter to refugee families.

Bookended by Diya’s powerful essay "Radical Hospitality" and the inspiring coda “Names and Numbers,” each chapter weaves the individual stories into a powerful journey along a common theme:

•   Life Before (“The Body Leaves its Soul Behind”)
• The Moment of Rupture(“Proof and Persecution”)
• The Journey (“Right Next Door”)
• Arrival/Resettlement(“Back to the Margins”)
• A Few Years Later (“From Camp to Campus”)

 
The lives explored in American Refuge include the artist who, before he created the illustration on the cover of this book, narrowly escaped two assassination attempts in Iraq and now works at Tyson cutting chicken.
 
We learn that these refugees from Burma, Burundi, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, and Uganda lived in homes they loved, left against their will, moved to countries without access or rights, and were among the 1% of the "lucky" few to resettle after a long wait, almost certain never to return to the homes they never wanted to leave. We learn that anybody, at any time, can become a refugee.

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Steerforth Press / Truth to Power 
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• Publication Date : (September 6, 2022)
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     Pages :176

• Disclosure of Material: I have received a review copy of this book by the publisher in the form of e-book from NET GALLEY as Advance Reader Copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

The Peaceful Village by Paulette Mahurin #Historical European Fiction #Book Review #The Peaceful Village

 

MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW

I'm a great fan of historical World War novels. I truly enjoyed this book, Stories of various villagers in Oradour were told in an authentic manner by Paulette Mahurin. This was France in 1940's, a civilized nation. What the French police did - Thousands of Jews, men and women, were rounded up put in trucks, and sent to camps. Parents shoved into trucks when children were left in the streets with outstretched arms. 

I loved the story about the Oradour sur Glane village, a wonderful peace-loving place for all who call it home at the time of WW2. Oradour was a place of safety where the Germans rarely entered for bloodletting. Sixty six year old Jean Desourteaux was Oradour's mayor as well as doctor of this peaceful Village. The war was happening far from Oradour. 

While Oradour-sur-Glane enjoyed calmness and the lack of German presence, twenty-two kilometers to the northwest in Limoges, the Germans were reacting with increasing cruelty to organized attacks on their soldiers by the armed resistance organization Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP). 

The villagers least expected the SS would enter thier vibrant pastoral homes but they were not immune from ravages of war. On hitting the 2nd Waffen-SS Panzer Division, two men from the German Lines were hurt, Kampfe's death, who was not just a highly decorated Sturmbannfuhrer, who had been awarded the knight's cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the German military, he was Diekmann's personal friend. Karl Gerlach, Orderly officer and Commander's Kidnapping, having blame pointing the Village and wanting revenge by Diekmann, the very reason the SS stormed down the streets of Oradour - sur - Glane. Guingouin was one target for the Nazis, a man the SS sought as priority capture and kill.

Loved the Character Father Chapelle and Marquerite who were closely associated as Oradour's citizens. Well researched events of the Great war in Europe. I would rate it 5 star!

I just reviewed the book, The Peaceful Village by Paulette Mahurin. Thanks to the author and publisher, Paulette Mahurin and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book for my honest review.

Book Description

During the German occupation of France, nestled in the lush, verdant countryside in the Haute-Vienne department of central France was the peaceful village of Oradour-sur-Glane. It was a community where villagers woke to the medley of nature’s songs, roosters crowing, birds chirping, cats purring, and cows plodding on their way out to pasture. The people who lived there loved the tranquil nature of their beautiful home, a tranquility that existed year-round. Even with the German occupation, Oradour-sur-Glane – the village with cafés, shops, and a commuter tram to Limoges – remained relatively untouched by the stress of the occupation.

While Oradour-sur-Glane enjoyed the lack of German presence, twenty-two kilometers to the northwest in Limoges, the Germans were reacting with increasing cruelty to organized attacks on their soldiers by the armed resistance organization Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP). Headed by Amédé Fauré, the Limoges FTP was considered the most effective of the French Resistance groups. Fauré’s missions prompted the German military to kill and incarcerate in concentration camps anyone perceived as supporters or sympathizers of the Resistance.

Up until the middle of 1944, the German anti-partisan actions in France never rose to the level of brutality or number of civilian casualties that had occurred in eastern Europe. A little before the Allies landed in Normandy, all that changed, when German troops, and in particular the Waffen-SS, stationed on the Eastern Front were transferred to France. It was then that FTP’s increasing efforts to disrupt German communications and supply lines were met with disproportionate counter attacks, involving civilians. Fauré’s response was to target German officers. When he set his sights on two particular German officers, all hell broke loose.

Based on actual events as told by survivors, The Peaceful Village is the fictionalized story of the unfolding of the events that led up to one of the biggest World War II massacres on French soil. Much more than an account of Nazi brutality and the futility of war, this is a story of love. The love of family. The love of neighbor. The love of country. Compassion and courage burn from the pages as the villagers’ stories come alive. Written by the international bestselling author of The Seven Year Dress, Paulette Mahurin, this book pays homage to the villagers who lived and loved in Oradour-sur-Glane.

• Disclosure of Material: I have received a review copy of this book by the publisher in the form of e-book from NET GALLEY as Advance Reader Copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”