I went into this book with certain expectations of what it was going to be about and was totally blown away by just how wrong those expectations were. What an amazing book, family and girl. WOW.

I cannot even imagine what it must be like to live in the Middle East - to always be afraid, to always have to conform to a certain lifestyle and style of dress [even if you are not practicing Muslim's or are devout], to live with the bombs and the wars and the....insecurity that life there brings. I have read many books about this region in trying to have a deeper understanding and much like Barbara in this book, I do not think one can fully comprehend unless one travels over there [and she was only in Dubai where things are a bit more relaxed than in Iraq] and experiences it for themselves. I totally understand why Teeba's parent's sent her to the US when the opportunity arose and why they demand she stay her, but I also know that the pain of not seeing your child has got to be on the of the hardest things ever.

This story will amaze you, fill you with pain and sorrow, and then lift you up with hope and love. It is a beautiful story of family and love and what that truly means.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson -- W Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Brave Face is a truly Inspirational story. Barbara Marlowe read a story in 2006 about a young Iraqi girl who was severely burned. She made it her mission to find a way to help her. What followed was, after numerous delays, Teeba and her grandmother arriving in the US. The grandmother left after several months, but Teeba remains. It's an incredible story about two strangers who reached out to a foreign injured child and became her surrogate parents. The story also includes Teeba's thoughts and her mother Dunia's story as well.

"Brave Face " By Barbara Marlow and Teeba Furat Marlowe is a nonfiction , inspirational story. When Teeba was 19 months old she was burned by a bombing in Iraq in the Diyala Provence. She had burn marks on her face , head, and hands. Barbara read a story about what happened to Teeba. She was asking for someone to help her with her burns in a letter. She wanted to have the burns removed. Barbara worked to help Teeba with one obstacle after another to help her come to America and then get the medical help she needed. It took a huge amount a perseverance for Barbara to make it all happen. Once Teeba came to American for her medical treatment she came with her grandmother. The story is so inspiring to see how Teeba overcomes many odds to go through so many surgeries. It took years for the surgeries to take place. There are also many cultural differences Barbara and Teeba had to work with and overcome. The story goes back and forth between Barbara and Teeba's perspective. It is a beautiful story encouraging the reader to overcome their personal challenges since Teeba also overcame her own challenges. Will you see the challenges Teeba and Barbara overcame? The book is well written and challenges the reader to move on to see what will happen with Teeba. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed the overall story of this book. I liked that the author worked hard tho bring a young Iraqi girl she only knew by a picture to the United States. However, she everything to god, the good and the bad, even immigration law she attributed to God. While I believe in God, this did get annoying at times.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. This is my honest opinion of it.

The story itself is truly remarkable. How many people would view a photo of a young girl in need--- a child in an all-but-inaccessible and war-torn country--- and set out to help her? The author left no stone unturned to bring the girl (Teeba Furat) to the U.S. for desperately needed medical care and cosmetic surgery. It speaks to what a rare and loving woman the author is. There can be no doubt of that.

However, the reader should know that the author credits all successes along the way to her god, and credits all roadblocks along the way to her god as well. For this reason, I am assigning the book only three stars. Too often I was saying, "That's not'god, that's immigration law!" Or, "That's not god, it's politics, bureaucratic red tape, and the complications of war!" But no, it was "god, god, god" throughout the book, and it made for a very plodding read for those of us who are not believers, and who do not see supernatural entities working for and against us at every turn.