Hiba Noor Khan’s Safiyyah’s War is a moving wartime story for 11 year olds about a girl who lives at a mosque in Paris as the Nazis close in.<\/p>\n
Safiyyah wants to be an explorer. She spends her afternoons in the library poring over maps of the Amazon, with a kind librarian who keeps her supplied with strawberry bonbons. Her grandmother, Setti, is never without an orange in her pocket.<\/p>\n
Then, one evening over mint tea, her father tells the family that the Germans have crossed into France.<\/p>\n
Everything changes, bit by bit. Her best friend Isabelle’s family leaves Paris. Her teenage cousin signs up to fight. The librarian starts sending the rarest books away to the countryside for safe keeping. And Safiyyah keeps thinking about a man she saw crying in the street, holding a little boy’s hand.<\/p>\n
As the occupation takes hold, the Nazis arrest her father over the secret work he’s been doing for the Resistance. That leaves Safiyyah carrying his risky messages across Paris. Jewish families come to the mosque looking for shelter. The tunnels of the catacombs under Paris become a way to lead them to safety.<\/p>\n
Reading it feels like living inside a very loving family. The food alone (lamb stew, couscous, pastries soaked in rose syrup) will make your reader hungry. Setti’s sayings about oranges, maps and choosing the path of light are the kind that stay with you.<\/p>\n
It’s clear and honest about what’s coming, too. Safiyyah and Isabelle talk about how the Nazis treat Jewish people, and Safiyyah promises to look out for her Jewish classmates. Her father lost the hearing in one ear and his singing voice to the last war. And Setti tells Safiyyah that a day will come when she has to choose courage and goodness. You can feel that day getting closer with every chapter.<\/p>\n
Something to be ready for. This is a story about occupation and the persecution of Jewish people, so there’s fear, danger and families torn apart in it. It’s pitched for the very top of the shelf. A more anxious reader might like you close by, and it could spark some big conversations.<\/p>\n
If your reader has already fallen for wartime stories, or has a big heart for fairness, this one will stay with them for a long time.<\/p>\n
For another girl doing brave, secret work in occupied France, try Jennifer A Nielsen’s Rescue. Meg secretly helps the Resistance while she waits for word of the father she hasn’t seen for 657 days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hiba Noor Khan’s Safiyyah’s War is a moving wartime story for 11 year olds about a girl who lives at a mosque in Paris as the Nazis close in. Safiyyah wants to be an explorer. She spends her afternoons in the library poring over maps of the Amazon, with a kind librarian who keeps her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13411,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"lr_next_read_post_id":8489,"lr_next_read_anchor":"Jennifer A Nielsen's Rescue","lr_seo_hook":"A girl who dreams of maps finds her courage as the Nazis march into Paris."},"book_tag":[1049],"age_group":[28],"book_type":[1044],"book_author":[384],"class_list":["post-8561","our-books","type-our-books","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","book_tag-war-books","age_group-books-for-11-year-olds","book_type-paid","book_author-hiba-noor-khan"],"yoast_title":"Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan | Little Reads","yoast_metadesc":"A girl who dreams of maps finds her courage as the Nazis march into Paris. For ages 11+. 3,000+ books in the Little Reads app. 7-day free trial.","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n