Actually, this one is 6/5⭐!!!

This one was a recommendation from my 12 friends/12 books/12 months challenge, and I don't know that I would have picked it up on my own. I am so glad I did!

I listened to this one on audio, and it's narrated by the author. I have never heard an audiobook in the author's voice, and if others are as expressive as Daniel Nayeri, sign me up!

This story is told in the voice of a middle school boy in a very non-linear way, but once I got used to the format, I was hooked. It flows back and forth between simple, straightforward language to a poetic epic to storytelling around a campfire, and this has the profound effect of giving his voice a soft power and strength. I had to keep listening.

As an American Whitey McWhiteface, the chance to hear his story felt like a privilege. I don't really know how to expand on that. The picture he painted was vivid and illuminating, and I feel like I have a better appreciation for what families go through to find freedom, and for what we have in common with each other as humans.

Also, I cried. Who wouldn't?! This might be one of the few books that I think everyone should read.