Samira Surfs

By Rukhsanna Guidroz, Fahmida Azim (illustrator),

Book cover of Samira Surfs

Book description

A middle grade novel in verse about Samira, an eleven-year-old Rohingya refugee living in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, who finds strength and sisterhood in a local surf club for girls.

Samira thinks of her life as before and after: before the burning and violence in her village in Burma, when sheā€¦

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Why read it?

1 author picked Samira Surfs as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Samira is a Rohingya girl whose family fled anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar and now lives near a refugee camp in a Bangladesh beach town. This doesnā€™t sound like the set-up for a ā€œsportsā€ book, yet like all the best sports books, this beautiful novel-in-verse is about so much more than simply winning or losing a game. I love the way Guidroz shows the strong bonds that form within a team ā€“ in this case, a group of girls who help one another learn to swim and surf, defying cultural standards that bar girls from these activities. I also love howā€¦

From Barbara's list on girls who love sports.

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One Giant Leap by Ben Gartner,

Editor's Pick, BookLife by Publishers Weekly.

Gold Medal, 2023 Mom's Choice Awards.

Gold Medal, 2023 Readers' Favorite Awards.

First Place, 2023 Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Awards.

Iā€™m pretty sure Iā€™m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half.

Blast off with the four winners ofā€¦

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Interested in Bangladesh, Myanmar, and surfing?

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Myanmar 35 books
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