Review: Sea Prayer

Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's a little unfair, possibly, for me to include a picture book as part of my reading challenge this year. But let me explain. It was because of the dog.

I had the dog with me in the car. We were leaving her vet appointment. To be time-efficient, I was also going to return books to our local library, which in passing memory, boasted a drop-in slot for a drive-thru book return. Awesome. It's super hot, I don't want to get the dog nor I out of the air-conditioned car for a second.

I drove through. What? The slot is locked? I pressed a useless buzzer to no avail. Forced to park and exit the car, I then began to worry that some SPCA spy would see me leave the dog in the car. I carefully made a big deal about opening the windows (which I would do, regardless of SPCA fears), and hurried into the library. The return book spot is almost half-way in at the library. At that point, I am now near the 'current books we recommend' shelf. DANG IT. I start to grab books, where I usually browse and take my time, but the dog is in the car, and I don't want her to swelter any longer than necessary. I snatched a variety of books, and this one was included. I had no time to complain about the forbidden dropbox but simply slid my books through the automatic check out table, and left.

That being said, this is a beautiful book, and it is more of a protest poem than a picture book. The drawings are haunting and the real story that it is based upon, the death of a three-year-old Syrian boy who died with his father, who was trying to escape a war-torn country by boat, is moving and thought-provoking.


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