January 22, 2024
Based in family history, this opaquely told account of the Armenian genocide is narrated by a maturing child who survives the events. A warm moment—mother and child cooking together—ends with a knock and a whispered conversation. Dressing the protagonist and two sisters in ragged clothing, Mama sews gold buttons inside, “in case you need them,” and promises she’ll soon follow. The children cross a desert alongside others “for days. For weeks. For months,” the narrator holding “on to Mama’s words like a prayer.” After the children reach “a land with blankets and water and food. A land far from Mama,” Boukarim traces the protagonist growing up, having “lost my words” to discuss these experiences, even through adulthood—until an intergenerational moment opens a pathway to the past. Digital illustrations from Avedikian use a flat graphic style to convey the events and saturated, chalk-like ribbons to delve into moments of memory in a telling that, while eliding definitive historical events in favor of an experiential telling, hints at unspoken events held, for decades, within. Creators’ notes and a history conclude. Ages 5–8.