Things all happen in short order after that, and the Hawramis, who find themselves dodging the Iraqi government, find themselves living in a remote Kurdish village that is unlike anything they have ever known. The journey continues when the village becomes the target of brutal bombing raids, and it seems that the family must become refugees in order to escape danger. Experiences in two refugee camps follow, and Tara and her family wonder if their life will ever be what it was before.

As I said before, I was disappointed with this book. It seems as if the author had a very promising topic and a character that could potentially make the story seem real to readers. But something seems flawed in this book. Lairds writing style is somehow "detached" and it doesnt really feel like you are "right there" (which is how it should in a good book). In what should have been some of the most exciting parts of the book, I felt kind of bored and ready to "get on with it." Character development seems a little weak, too. We never seemed to really get to know Tara-there was too much time spent telling what she did, not enough time spent telling what she thought.

The one great thing about this book is that it lets us know about a conflict, a people, and a time in the not-so-distant past that many of us probably dont know about. I think its good to read books like this that open our eyes to whats happening around us; its just too bad that the quality of writing and character development in this book was far from 5-star.