Cold White Sun

Starred review from February 1, 2019
Based on interviews with a man who started life as the son of a powerful Addis Ababa businessman, this novel traces the story of one refugee in Canada."Tesfaye" (names were changed to protect relatives back in Ethiopia) spent his early years caring only about doing well in school to please his father, playing with his brothers, and trying to eat before his sisters shooed him away. Born around the time of the Great Famine, Tesfaye recalls the early 1990s, when he had to be inside before dark because the world was dangerous after nightfall. When rebel soldiers forced their way into the family compound, Tesfaye found his life changed irrevocably. Later, after his father was arrested for anti-government activities and Tesfaye's name was added to a wanted list for helping him distribute pamphlets, he began a long, taxing journey first to Kenya and, eventually, to Canada. Holler (Lacey and the African Grandmothers, 2009, etc.) transforms his story into an emotionally gripping work of fiction. The details of his difficult and harrowing life will wrap readers up in Tesfaye's emotions--his joys, fears, and anxieties--showing them the world through his senses. The care taken with this narrative is apparent on every page; readers cannot help but feel for Tesfaye and others like him who must sacrifice so much for survival and safety.A profound, heartbreaking narrative filled with loss, confusion, displacement, and longing. (map, author's note, information about Ethiopia) (Fiction. 14-adult)

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July 1, 2019
The son of a well-connected businessman, Tesfaye leads a life of privilege in 1990s Ethiopia. After his father is arrested, however, a terrified Tesfaye endures a harrowing journey (via human trafficker) to Canada. Tesfaye now faces new dangers alone. Based on a true story, Holler's tale provides a timely refugee narrative driven by its protagonist's intense emotional experience. Tesfaye's eye-opening perspective allows readers to follow him through terror and survival.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2019
The son of a well-connected businessman, Tesfaye is accustomed to a life of privilege in 1990s Ethiopia. He eats well (no small thing in the years after the Great Famine) and attends an excellent school; his biggest worries are keeping his grades up and pleasing his father. Danger hovers close, however, and as tensions with rebel forces rise, Tesfaye's world is violently upended. His father is arrested, and Tesfaye himself is wanted by the authorities. Eventually, a terrified Tesfaye endures a harrowing journey (via human trafficker) to Kenya, through Europe, and ultimately to Canada. But a new country is no guarantee of safety, and Tesfaye must now face new dangers without the support of his family. Based on a true story and thoughtfully disguised to protect the real Tesfaye (and his family still in Ethiopia), Holler's tale provides a timely refugee narrative driven by its protagonist's intense emotional experience. Holler has taken great care to focus on Tesfaye's humanity throughout a story that could so easily be overtaken by its political upheaval, physical peril, and culture shock; readers will be compelled by Tesfaye's eye-opening perspective as they follow him through terror and survival. anastasia m. collins

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)