Logo image
  • BookDragon
  • About
  • The Blogger
  • Review Policy
  • Smithsonian APAC
 
43770
post-template-default,single,single-post,postid-43770,single-format-standard,stardust-core-1.1,stardust-child-theme-ver-1.0.0,stardust-theme-ver-3.1,ajax_updown_fade,page_not_loaded,smooth_scroll

BookDragon Blog

12 Apr / The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi, translated by Luke Leafgren [in Booklist]

The lives of two girls, the narrator and Nadia, born during the Iran-Iraq War are continuously delineated by conflict. As young children, they meet in a Baghdad air-raid shelter under siege in 1991’s Operation Desert Storm and become best friends. Their growing up is marked by years of sanctions and the second Gulf War. Despite deprivation and terror, life continues: the girls go to school; they pass exams; they experience first love; they go to college.

As their neighborhood empties, Uncle Shawkat and his prescient dog guard and maintain the abandoned homes of fleeing families until even that becomes untenable. In an act of preservation, as “memory was at risk of passing away,” the girls compose The Baghdad Clock: The Record of a Neighbourhood.

Al Rawi’s debut presents the so-called enemy imbued with childhood whimsy and human longing, their quotidian stories embellished with touches of magic realism. Rendered into English by Harvard professor Luke Leafgren, who was inspired by 9/11 to learn Arabic, this international bestseller is both condemnation against politics and war and testimony to resilient humanity.

YA/Mature Readers: Gaining insight into the lives of young people surviving relentless wars in an often-demonized nation provides important lessons in empathetic humanity for mature teens.

Review: “Fiction,” Booklist, April 15, 2018

Published: 2016 (Iraq), 2018 (United States)

By Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Iraqi, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers Tags > Baghdad Clock, BookDragon, Booklist, Civil rights, Family, Friendship, Luke Leafgren, Shahad Al Rawi, War
1 Comment
  • Pingback:Five More to Go: Paul Yoon’s Run Me to Earth [in The Booklist Reader] | BookDragon Reply

Post a Comment
Cancel Reply

Smithsonian Institution
Asian Pacific American Center

Capital Gallery, Suite 7065
600 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20024

202.633.2691 | APAC@si.edu

Additional contact info

Mailing Address
Capital Gallery
Suite 7065, MRC: 516
P.O. Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012

Fax: 202.633.2699

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

SmithsonianAPA brings Asian Pacific American history, art, and culture to you through innovative museum experiences and digital initiatives.

About BookDragon

Welcome to BookDragon, filled with titles for the diverse reader. BookDragon is a new media initiative of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC), and serves as a forum for those interested in learning more about the Asian Pacific American experience through literature. BookDragon is inhabited by Terry Hong.

Learn More

Contact BookDragon

Please email us at SIBookDragon@gmail.com

Follow BookDragon!
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Looking for Something Else …?

or