Josette Frank Award winner

National Book Award Finalist

An Odyssey Honor audiobook and National Book Award Finalist, this remarkable graphic novel—adapted for audio—is about growing up in a refugee camp, as told by a former Somali refugee to the Newbery Honor-winning creator of Roller Girl.

Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future...but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day.

Heartbreak, hope, and gentle humor exist together in this graphic novel—now adapted for audio—about a childhood spent waiting, and a young man who is able to create a sense of family and home in the most difficult of settings. It's an intimate, important, unforgettable look at the day-to-day life of a refugee, as told to New York Times best-selling author/artist Victoria Jamieson by Omar Mohamed, the Somali man who lived the story. This audiobook is performed by a full cast and includes music and special effects.

Cast of Narrators:

Faysal Ahmed as Omar

Barkhad Abdi as Jeri

Robin Miles as Fatuma

Ifrah Mansour as Nimo and Munira

Bahni Turpin as Maryam and Ladan

Hakeemshady Mohamed as Tall Salan

Sadeeq Ali as Tall Ali

Dominic Hoffman as Michael

Christine Avila as Susana Martinez

JD Jackson as Hassan and Jeri’s Dad

Filsan Said as Nimo’s Mom, Sadiya, and Little Nimo

Dion Graham as David

Samba Schutte as Abdikarim and The Man who Finds Hassan

Hana Robleh as Mama

Abdi Iftin as Abdikarim’s Dad and Salat

Susan Duerden as The Reporter

and Steve West as The Cameraman

with Omar Mohamed reading his Author's Note

and Victoria Jamieson reading her Author's Note