Nima wishes she could be someone else—another version of herself who's more confident, more graceful, who never came to America to begin with. Nima misses Sudan, the country of her parents, even though she's never actually been there herself. If her father hadn't been killed in a car accident, Nima believes that her life would have been infinitely better. She wouldn't have to suffer through the racial prejudice of ignorant peers. She wouldn't have to learn Arabic on the weekends and speak an English dialect that others mock. She wouldn't have to watch her overworked mother drag herself home each day, exhausted and unavailable. Things would be better. But when Nima's opportunity arrives, she realizes that rejecting her current life comes at a high price.

I was not a fan of The Poet X, another teenage girl's poetic coming-of-age with similar themes of family and belonging. But Home Is Not a Country was just fantastic! Safia Elhillo deftly navigated the verse novel form and, wow, can she write beautifully. Her lines are poignant and powerful. Nima's story and road to understanding is nuanced and convincing, and her emotional growth is exceptionally well-written. This is my favorite verse novel of all time. Teen children of immigrants will love this story, but so will everybody else. I will definitely be reading anything else Safia writes.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Home Is Not A Country is a beautiful, lyrical story of a young woman trying to find herself and her place in a world that both cannot see her and only sees their version of her. Nira's story is told in a nontraditional format that I personally enjoyed and I breezed through this book quickly. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed such an easy read that also struck me as a deeply introspective story as well; I can't recommend it highly enough!

I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this one up for National Poetry Month and I really enjoyed it. Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo is a gorgeously written YA story. This story is about Nima, a Muslim teen girl, who lives with her immigrant mother and is dealing with growing up with the ghosts of her past around her. Nima wonders what her life would be like if her father was still around. I really think this story is so magical if you go in without knowing much about the actual plot. This is such a beautiful book about family and finding who you really are. Fans of Elizabeth Acevedo will love this one!

My Thoughts:

First, this cover is beautiful! I just like to soak it in. I have kept this in my reading queue for a while just because I want to keep absorbing the cover. I started reading this for April's poetry month and I have just been holding on to snippets of the story, pulling at pieces of the images and then putting it down so that I could make this book last for the whole month. True story.

This novel in verse is about a girl who feels invisible, who would like to be someone else, Yasmeen as Jazz or Jazzy. Not Nima, grace, who feels the irony of her name that does not fit with her "uncoordinated elbow" and "overlarge feet." Nima niʻma mispronounced in school. An excerpt from "My Name" by Safia Elhillo:

nima meaning grace it would be funny/if it weren't cruel I stumble over my own overlarge/feet & knock over the clay incense holder its coal/burning a perfect circle into the wooden table. . ./in exasperation my mother calls/for the grace i don't have

I cannot help but bring forward Esperanza from House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros who also wished to be someone else. In the vignette "My Name" by Cisneros, the character spends multiple short paragraphs saying everything about her name but what her name really is. We know that she did not want to be that woman sitting her sadness on an elbow, or carried away on a horse, but wanted to rename herself as perhaps "Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes something like Zeze the X will do." By mirroring the title of her poem to Cisneros' vignette, perhaps Elhillo is also calling forward Esperanza in her work.

Through a little bit of magic and the ability to cross reality realms when facing trauma, Nima is able to find answers that help her find herself and recognize her value as Nima.

These poems are rhythmic and tap out a beat with its creative use of white space and gaps. I also find the Arabic in parts as well as the sparse italicized dialogue very powerful and effective in telling this story. This definitely goes on the list for must read YA novels in verse. I am passing it on.

From the Publsihers:

my mother meant to name me for her favorite flower
its sweetness garlands made for pretty girls
i imagine her yasmeen bright & alive
& i ache to have been born her instead


Nima wishes she were someone else. She doesn’t feel understood by her mother, who grew up in a different land. She doesn’t feel accepted in her suburban town; yet somehow, she isn't different enough to belong elsewhere. Her best friend, Haitham, is the only person with whom she can truly be herself. Until she can't, and suddenly her only refuge is gone.

As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen—the name her parents meant to give her at birth—Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might be more real than Nima knows. And the life Nima wishes were someone else's. . . is one she will need to fight for with a fierceness she never knew she possessed.

This is a book of poems, not my thing at all. It was interesting but i'm not dying to read any more poetry. I'm not sure how to review this. It's the first poetry book i have read. If you like poetry you may like it but i wasn't into it.

A sometimes sorrowful, sometimes joyful, always thoughtful novel in verse about being caught between lands and cultures and feeling of not belonging. Also themes of friendship, anti-immigration prejudice, and family history.

There are some ARCS I am not able to open, and this was one of them. I don't want it hanging around on my to review list, since I don't have access. I will try and only download kindle editions since I have no problems with them

4.25 stars. This packed an emotional punch. I cried a lot. While I didn't love this one, I was emotionally connected and invested in the journey Nima has to go through. Definitely recommend this one! Review to come.

Due to being a high school teacher, I am behind on writing reviews. Reviews will be posted hopefully this summer.

This has been one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint.

In “Home is not a country” the author Safia creates a vivid world with a rich spirit. We follow the story of Nima who is a Muslim immigrant raised by a single mother in America. Her father is dead and her mother is pregnant and she has come to America for a better life only to find out that the American dream is a hoax. This book deals with a lot of heavy subjects. I love the way this book dealt with Nima feeling like she is not “American enough” or “Arabic enough” which is a thing that I have never seen before in literature. The writing is incredible and I just appreciate this book for what it is. The only downside for me is that the pacing was off a lot of times.

This is a beautiful, beautifully written novel-in-verse that's really just about a girl trying to figure out how she fits in. All of the other details - her family heritage and history and religion - all matter immensely, and cannot be discounted, but that the story really, truly is about a girl trying to find her place in the world means that this can be relatable for any reader.

That there are readers who have never seen themselves a book like this before who will now might matter even more.

For anyone looking to read Own Voices stories, coming of age stories, magical realism, novels in verse, or simply beautifully constructed stories.

This novel in verse is one that I won't forget. This book is about a series of very dangerous things that happen to this character. I think that if you love novels in verse and are looking for a unique story than this one will hit you where it hurts. It tells/shows you about how past choices can influence who you are.

This is a title I knew nothing about. The title was intriguing, and I knew it had been compared to Elizabeth Acevedo who is an easy favorite.

I am anything but an expert on poetry. It isn't a genre I gravitate towards. I appreciated how the format made this an easier and fast read. Despite being in verse there was a story to be told. A story of some of the hardest struggles people are experiencing growing up in America. Bullying, racism, and finding your place in life.

This was well done. I am grateful to have read it.

This story was made for someone like me and that okay. I still enjoyed the story and the writing as well this book has a lot of messages in this story. Not fitting in, not feeling like you belong and who has wished they were some different verse of themselves. This book has heart and soul. and for me it felt slow at times but that just a personal thing and the format of the book threw me off a bit with the spacing but that all little compare to the message this book has. If you want to see what it's like to be from another country in the USA, or a book about someone learning how to love themself this book is for you.

ahh the lush worldbuilding is just amazing! the topics this book tackles are artfully done, and i cried multiple times reading this book, the verse was just so impactful.

Evocative poetry and magical realism combine to spotlight the life of high schooler Nima who is caught in between - she’s not American enough, but she’s lagging at Arabic school, she loves her mother, but also resents the loss of the father she never knew, she loves the food her mother fixes but insists on taking a bread and cheese sandwich for her school lunch.

As she struggles with her identity, Nima feels that she is losing herself in the company of Yasmeen, a spirit of who Nima might have been. With Yasmeen, Nima shifts through time to see her father and learns family truths her mother never told her. In the process Nima comes to terms with her mother, her culture, and her friendships, reconciles with a friend, and mysteriously manages to guide Yasmeen from spiritual to corporeal life.

An ambitious, lyrical text told in poetry.

I was so excited to read this book because it was compared to Elizabeth Acevedo’s books. And let me tell you, this book did not disappoint. It was fantastic.

Home is not a country is a verse novel. It was a quick read, but it was so good. I could relate to a few things in this novel. The themes and details were interesting and at times my heart broke for Nima.

The book is broken down into three parts. The first part is about Nima’s life in the United States. She deals with a few hardships like bullying and trying to fit in. In the second part of the book, Nima enters a dream like state or world. She deals with Yasmeen, the person who she imagines she would be off her mother had given her that name and of her father hadn’t died. In the third part of the book, Nima is back in her world.

*Thank you Netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.*

"he raises an eyebrow & breaks into a grin you know,
nima, you're lucky i'm the only one who knows
how weird you are which would normally make me laugh
but today it cuts today it sounds like you don't have
any other friends i am full of hurt full of anger
& i just need somewhere to put it i am so sick of carrying
it around so i let myself give in"

If you market a book as one fans of [author:Jason Reynolds|21151524] and [author:Elizabeth Acevedo|15253645] will enjoy, then you know I'm going to pick it up. This was a beautiful novel in verse all about figuring out where you fit in. For teenager Nima, she doesn't feel like she truly belongs in the United States where her mom immigrated prior to Nima's birth. Nima and her mom struggle to be Muslim in a post 9/11 United States, where they are targeted for racist comments. Nima begins to imagine what her life would be like had her mom not immigrated to the United States. Nima envisions this life through another being, Yasmeen.

There is a hint of magical realism in this story that I definitely wasn't expecting. I went into this book blind and I actually think that helped me enjoy this story. Had I known there was some time travel, I might not have picked up this book. I'm not typically a big fan of time travel, but it was done so well in this book that I'm not at all mad it was used in this book. The poetry is exquisite and so beautiful. I definitely meant to read this prior to the publication date, but I'm glad I waited - I was able to listen and follow along to this story which is, hands down, my favorite way to experience poetry. I am definitely looking forward to reading more work from Safia Elhillo in the future.

TW: racism, police violence, bullying

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Libro.fm for the advanced listening copy so I could also listen to this while I followed along.

Home Is Not a Country is a masterful, affecting story told in verse about a girl named Nima who is trying to get a handle on her identity and is attempting to become the best version of herself in a post-9/11 world where she already feels displaced. Confused. Misunderstood. In a place where she finds herself unfairly, tragically discriminated against because of her Muslim heritage.

Torn between the life she lives in America with her immigrant mother and the life she could have had elsewhere with her parents as Yasmeen, the name her deceased father had chosen, and would have become hers had he lived, Nima feels as if she's straddling a line. Like she doesn't truly belong anywhere or to anyone. She hunts for answers around her: sifting through photographs, music, pop culture, lessons in Arabic, her friend Haitham, anything at all that will reveal clues of who she is or where she comes from.

The harder she focuses on one life, however, the more the other starts to fade away.

What results from this is a slippage of sorts. This quality allows for a cohesive narrative shift to take place that blends Nima's real trauma and tragedies with the more magical imaginings or exchanges she ends up having with her alterego, Yasmeen. I wasn't anticipating that transition but I found it to be both inspiring and effective.

The first person free verse in this book is powerful as well. Moving. The rhythm Elhillo employs is aesthetically simple yet haunting. The closely guarded diary-like quality of the words makes what Nima expresses feel private, personal. Readers become achingly sensible of everything she feels - whether it's fear, loneliness, anger, cruelty, or prejudice from other Americans who take one cursory look her way then bestow the label "terrorist" - and are almost able to experience her otherness vicariously. All that she describes resonates in some ways, then opens eyes and hearts wider in others.

(Themes of bullying, racism, immigration, assault, etc. are present.)

Don't be surprised if a few tears splatter the pages. I know I left behind quite a number of them myself. I definitely recommend to those of you who are looking to include more diversity/diverse voices in your literature palette.

What a magical, emotional read!

Many thanks to Random House Children's and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

This plot is an ideal one for a verse novel, given that it is largely internal. It's all about identity: who are you to your parents versus your peers; who are your parents and what influences them; what is home. The bulk of the plot is the protagonist imagining other ways her life could have gone . The elements don't mesh together especially well. I found this difficult to connect with, hard to engage.

Elhillo's novel-in-verse is a heart-rending story of grief, displacement, and nostalgia through the lens of one young woman's experience. Nima's voice is stunning, and Elhillo's deftly handles the complex ways that, in our own grief and hurt, we sometimes hurt the people we love.