After escaping a Syrian prison, Ibrahim Aldabaan and his family fled the country to seek protection in America. After months of uncertainty and fear of taking the chance to leave, they finally landed at JFK airport on November 8, 2016, Election Day. They started with high hopes, their new country had allies, who were willing to help them, set them up in a safe home and town. Get them started and offer a shoulder and a helping hand. The world changed overnight, and they woke up to the world of Donald Trump and a Muslim ban that would sever them from the grandmother, brothers, sisters, and cousins stranded in exile in Jordan.

Resettled in America with little English, few friends, and even less money, the family of seven strive to create something like home. As all their fears of this new change begin to happen, they settle into what was a semblance of normalcy. Then fear returns in the image of a white van cruising slowly past the house which erupts into full terror when the family receives a death threat and is forced to flee and start all over yet again. As usual, the America in which the Aldabaans must make their way is by turns kind and ignorant, generous and cruel, uplifting, and heartbreaking.
I was very impressed by the emotions this graphic novel managed to send to the reader. You came to love this family and fear for them as if they were your own. You saw the best of America and the ugly, racist hatred that lurks under the surface or sometimes, since this era of Trump, right out in the open.
Well drawn, well written. A very intimate look into the lives of those who come to us when there is nowhere else to go and how we, as a country, receive them.
I received this book free from Henry Holt & Company, Metropolitan Books, and Netgalley for my honest, unbiased review.

📖 BOOK REVIEW⠀📚
BOOK: Welcome to the New World
AUTHOR: Jake Halpern and Michael Sloan
@nytimes @jake.halpern.author
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐
Published: Oct 26th, 2017

Welcome to the New World is not an action-packed, man-vs-monster story of intrigue. It is a simple story that happens every day in America. Centered on a family of Syrian refugees, this graphic novel highlights the trials these people go through to become… us people. This is not a book about people being cruel to them, not in the ways we are used to seeing in media. Good people try to help them, but small disconnects lead to tiny cruelties that nobody intends. You want to see this family come out of the rocks, to actualise at least a portion of the American dream.

The writing does a great job of endearing you to Naji, the oldest boy in the family. He behaves like he is an adult, for reasons made very apparent at the end of the story. He and his sister want to fit in, but not lose their identity. Their father struggles to find work with a looming deadline before the government cuts them off.

The artwork is simple and cartoony. Much like comic strips you’d see in the New York Times. This makes it a bit hard to tell some of the characters apart, which confuses me as we see very recognizable renderings of Trump throughout.

Even though this quick read wasn’t the most compelling story, and the art nothing that special, I would recommend anyone and everyone to read this book. We all need to see the stress that immigrants and refugees are under. We all need to see how we can be there to support them. After all, most of us come from immigrant and refugee stock.

You can see more in my video review:
https://youtu.be/aPOxKDlXGMc

Thank you Macmillan and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Such a warm and heartbreaking narrative of an immigrant experience. It really shows how flawed the term "the American Dream" can really be and how it can only relate to ones who choose to conform to American's form of normalcy. The last page was the one I found so compelling and the most haunting. The family thought they would receive freedom when entering a new world but in fact they found themselves in another prison. Such an important story that needs to be told.

While the graphics might be sparse,. the story itself is an important one. A Syrian family comes to the US just before the 2016 election hoping to start a new, safer life in America. The story follows the family for the first four months as they "settle in" and adapt to their new home. This is an important book, especially for use in a classroom, because it shows the reality of immigration vs the rhetoric that we see too often in the news.

This is an eye-opening and honest book about the struggles and fears of a Syrian family immigrating to America. The book details the economic, social, and academic hardships that this family, and so many others like them, experience upon their arrival to the USA.

A great look into the life of a refugee in the time of the 2016 elections, where the president coming in clearly made things very difficult for refugees. It is definitely a topic I find very important.

I enjoyed it for the most part, getting a small glimpse into the insecurity and fear of people immigrating to America, but my biggest complaint was with the very abrupt ending where I had to check if I missed something.

Welcome to the New World is a poignant reminder of the refugee experience in an age where US politics is divisive and xenophobia is a prominient voice in mass media. The graphic novel f0llows the Aldabaans family who fled Syria to seek protection in America. They land in New York on November 8, 2016, Election Day. As the family adjusts to their new home with support from their sponsors and neighbors, they experience heartaches, bigotry, and disappointment, as well.

This graphic account of the human experience is well crafted and timely. It would be a good addition to a high school or young adult library to teach kindness, empathy, and perspective taking. Adults will benefit from reading it, as well, to reflect on current events and current political attitudes.

Advanced readers copy provided courtesy of #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Available in September 2020, or in parts via the New York Times 2017 archives.