Using composites based on real Syrian refugees, Brown’s graphic novel offers a chronology of recent events under the Bashar al-Assad regime that have led to civil war and the great waves of Syrian refugees streaming into Turkey and Europe. Tens of thousands are stuck (perhaps forever) in refugee camps where conditions are miserable. Others have made perilous journeys, only to be turned away by nations that are closing their borders. Although he never focuses on one person or family for very long, Brown humanizes his subjects, and makes readers feel compassion, if not outright anger at the way they are being treated. This powerful account is hard-hitting and, at times, painful to read, but it is a critical story for our times and will provide teens with information and insight into what’s going on behind the headlines of current news stories. (Age 14 and older)