Starred review from July 30, 2018
Hosseini (The Kite Runner) says he was compelled to write about the refugee crisis after seeing the photograph of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian who drowned off the coast of Turkey in 2015. Yet Hosseini’s story, aimed at readers of all ages, does not dwell on nightmarish fates; instead, its emotional power flows from the love of a father for his son. Written as a letter, the father begins slowly, recalling for his son, Marwan, the beauty of the Syrian town of Homs as it once was (“We woke in the mornings/ to the stirring of olive trees in the breeze”), then describing the war that destroyed it (“First came the protests./ Then the siege”). Now Marwan and his family sit on a beach, waiting for a boat. The father reassures Marwan: “Hold my hand./ Nothing bad will happen.” Inside, though, he is in turmoil: “These are only words... all I can think tonight is/ how deep the sea,/ and how vast, how indifferent.” In Williams’s loosely stroked ink-and-wash spreads, the corals and greens of the Syrian countryside give way to war’s gray shadows and the sea’s blue hues. Expansive views of sky and water both temper the text’s emotional build and render the figures in them small and fragile. Together, the evocative illustrations and graceful, compelling prose make it clear that Marwan and his parents have no choice but to trust the sea. Ages 7–up.

August 15, 2018
A poignant letter written by a fearful Syrian father to his son on the eve of a treacherous sea crossing to Europe.Commemorating the third anniversary of the death of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi, whose lifeless body, captured on camera, washed up on shore in September 2015, sparking worldwide outrage, this intensely moving story opens with the father's recollection of the family's peaceful life in Homs, Syria, before the city was turned into a deadly war zone. Writing in the first person, Hosseini successfully contrasts the father's Homs, a bustling and lively city before the war, with the one his son has known, a ravaged city marked with bombings, starvation, and burials. The contrast is rendered through Hosseini's unmatchable lyrical style--but also effectively portrayed on a graphic level through a pronounced change in Williams' palette, warm greens and ochers modulating to slate-blues and grays in the loose, affecting watercolors. The second portion of the letter is a prayer for a safe journey. It is powerfully evocative of the plight in which displaced populations find themselves, having to undertake a journey known to be unsafe--yet, for many, it is an option they cannot afford not to take. The book reads like an emotional gut-punch...an excruciating one. It is impossible to read without feeling intense compassion for those--and there are thousands--whose lives resemble those of the characters in the book.Powerful. (Picture book. 10-adult)

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Starred review from August 1, 2018
Grades 6-12 *Starred Review* In Sea Prayer, acclaimed novelist Hosseini pays tribute to the thousands of refugees who have fled wars and taken a chance on the sea, praying it will lead them to safety. It starts as a letter from a father to his young son, Marwan, recalling happier times in Homs, Syria, before the devastation of war. His memories are replete with the romantic longings of the exiled: the rippling breeze among the olive trees, the bleating of a grandmother's goat. The father fears Marwan will not remember this idyllic beauty, for the Homs Marwan knows is a place of skies spitting bombs. Starvation. Burials. Williams' sweeping watercolor illustrations provide dramatic visual context, mirroring the emotions of the narrative in washes of warm ocher, crisp blue, and fathomless black. Impressionistic renderings of caravans of migrants, rubble-filled cities, and the perilous ocean capture the frailty of humanity, a feeling the father knows well as he prays for protection for his son. A gold-limned sunrise on the last page suggests optimism, albeit cautiously. Hosseini's eloquent, aching story will resonate with adults and older readers who have some understanding of the current world refugee crisis. For content and artistic ingenuity, this can be paired with Stepping Stones (2016), by Margriet Ruurs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from November 1, 2018

Short yet powerful, this beautifully illustrated work conveys a heartfelt message about the plight of displaced populations. On a moonlit beach on the eve of a perilous journey across the sea to a better life, a father cradles his sleeping son as he reflects on their life in Homs, Syria, and awaits a boat they hope will take them to safety. He recalls the city's swift transformation from a peaceful home to a deadly war zone. Written as a fictional letter from a father to his son, Marwan, this poetic story is enhanced by Williams's moving, ink-washed, watercolor art. Stunning coral/green landscapes are replaced by ominous dull gray images that represent the deterioration of Syria. The combination of text and illustrations, expressed as a prayer, evokes the father's compassion more than his fear. Although briefer than Hosseini's other works, this vivid portrait of refugees who left everything behind and endured heartache and loss is no less potent. VERDICT A poignant offering that will encourage serious conversation about the refugee crisis among readers of all ages. Pair with The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah, Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai, and A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi.-Angelina Bair, Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, OH

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