Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq - Hardcover

Stamaty, Mark Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375832173 ISBN 13: 9780375832178

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2004

Synopsis

The inspiring story of an Iraqi librarian's courageous fight to save books from the Basra Central Library before it was destroyed in the war.
It is 2003 and Alia Muhammad Baker, the chief librarian of the Central Library in Basra, Iraq, has grown worried given the increased likelihood of war in her country. Determined to preserve the irreplacable records of the culture and history of the land on which she lives from the destruction of the war, Alia undertakes a courageous and extremely dangerous task of spiriting away 30,000 books from the library to a safe place.
Told in dramatic graphic-novel panels by acclaimed cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty, Alia's Mission celebrates the importance of books and the freedom to read, while examining the impact of war on a country and its people.

About this title

About the Author

Mark Alan Stamaty lives in New York City.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 4-7. The story of Iraqi librarian Alia Muhammed Baker, who, fearing looting and bombs, hid more than 30,000 books prior to the invasion of Iraq, is so compelling that two author-illustrators have retold it: Jeanette Winter, in her parable-like picture book The Librarian of Basra [BKL D 1 04], and Stamaty, in this graphic novel. Sequential panels concisely depict complex sequences of actions and emotions, allowing Stamaty to pack more detail into 32 pages than is possible in a traditional picture book. Stamaty's black-and-white ink, graphite, and wash artwork is equally nuanced; one can even discern the eerie, flickering shadows cast by the burning library across townspeople's faces. Younger readers will be instantly drawn by the story's anthropomorphic book emcee, but this sophisticated and timely work will also appeal to adult admirers of Spiegelman's Maus books and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis memoirs. An afterword about historical libraries of the Middle East sidesteps the knotty issue of current developments in Iraq, and Stamaty provides no source notes. Nonetheless, readers will come away powerfully moved by the expression of civilian life in the midst of wartime chaos. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0375832173
• ISBN 13: 9780375832178
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32