Other Words for Home

Jasmine Warga’s 2019 Other Words for Home is a middle grade novel in verse. Narrated by a 12-year-old Syrian girl, the novel is both a coming-of-age story and a work that explores the refugee experience in America. Other Words for Home earned a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and ALA Booklist and was a Newbery Honor Book.

Other works by this author include A Rover's Story, The Shape of Thunder, and My Heart and Other Black Holes.

This guide refers to the 2019 Balzer + Bray edition.

Plot Summary

In Part 1, “Changing,” soon-to-be seventh grader Jude lives in a Syrian city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Tourism is crucial to the economy of the city and to the families that live there, including Jude’s; her father owns a small store that caters to tourists with snacks and magazines. Jude knows that rebellion and violence from militant groups affect other parts of Syria, like the war-torn city of Aleppo; her own beloved brother Issa supports democratic reform and therefore disagrees with their father’s support of the Syrian president.