When Stars Are Scattered

Nonfiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2020

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Introduction and Chapters 1-3

Part 1, Chapters 4-7

Part 2, Introduction and Chapters 8-11

Part 2, Chapters 12-14

Part 3, Introduction and Chapters 15-17

Afterword and Authors’ Notes

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

Balancing Belief in Dreams, Faith, and Hard Work

The reader gets an early idea of the theme of “Balancing Belief in Dreams, Faith, and Hard Work” when Tall Salan attempts to convince Omar that he should be in school: “Omar, only God knows what will happen in the future. But if you get an education, you’ll be prepared. You could get a job. You could start a school, like I did. You could provide for yourself and your family” (33). In Omar’s early days in the camp, he focuses on caring for Hassan through direct supervision and time spent together. Salan’s words yield new insights for Omar; Salan’s desire to get Omar into school causes him to wonder about the bigger picture of his life for the first time. If he goes to school and works hard, his future might look very different; his diligence could pay off to benefit Hassan. Omar also sees that Salan balances the notion of hard work and goals with the knowledge that God will ultimately decide Omar’s fate.

These new thoughts bring Omar internal conflict as he faces the guilt of leaving Hassan in the day, worried that their separation could result in tragedy. When Omar chooses to take on the hard work of school, he figuratively leaves behind his Ordinary World of youthful assumptions about returning to Somalia, and his dreams for the future expand in scope and complexity. As he proceeds through school, he works late at night after chores; he is inspired by the hard work of Nimo and Maryam and intrigued by their dream to earn a scholarship to Canada. Soon Omar’s dreams for the future take shape; he determines he would like to be a United Nations aid worker. When not even hard work and dreams of the future can ameliorate the sad circumstances and burdens of living in a refugee camp, Omar finds it difficult to heed Fatuma’s advice that brings faith in God into the balance: “Prepare yourself and educate yourself, so you can be ready when God reveals his plan to you” (130).

When a friend’s family gets the coveted UN interview opportunity, Omar’s dreams of America are piqued. Later, when he and Hassan are the interview subjects, he finds it difficult to maintain the balance of dreams, faith, and hard work: His schoolwork slides when his dream of America becomes distracting and obsessive. When that dream does not come to pass immediately, Omar must return to the balance of hard work and faith for four more years. Going to high school, Omar realizes the connection when Susana provides his necessary uniform: “Sometimes I think Fatuma is right—You just try your best, and God will find a way to help you when you need it” (223). He sees this again when he finds Hassan safe with Sarura’s family: “Sometimes, when life feels like it’s at its lowest… God will deliver an answer, and you’ll find a path out of the darkness” (239). Omar’s gradual understanding of a balance between dreams, faith, and hard work as he comes of age helps him prepare for his second UN interview and subsequent applications for resettlement more calmly and purposefully. Ultimately, Omar trusts his faith once his hard work is complete: “But we don’t need luck—We’ve done all we can. It’s in God’s hands now” (249).

Maintaining Empathy Despite Personal Hardship

The theme of “Empathy Despite Personal Hardship” is apparent in each of the story’s three parts. In Part 1, when Omar begins school, Tall Ali questions his ability to start school in the fifth grade and the fairness of Omar’s possession of a workbook. Omar’s friend Jeri shows empathy when he supports Omar on his first day of school, pointing out that Tall Ali is just jealous and coaching Omar through all the new experiences that school brings. Later, Omar shows empathy when he realizes how daunting girls’ tasks and chores are compared to boys’, especially for those girls who also want to do well in school like Nimo and Maryam. He empathizes with Maryam’s pain when she must quit school to marry. Young Hassan also shows strong empathy when he cries to see someone else crying.

In Part 2, Omar realizes that Jeri feels anger and sadness after encountering his father in the marketplace: “I know I just like to be left alone when I’m in one of those moods, so I just kept my mouth shut” (131). This foreshadows Omar’s ability to give Jeri time and space when Omar is tapped for potential resettlement; Jeri’s envy drives them temporarily apart, but he chooses friendship over bitterness when he provides Omar with a lantern for his long walk to the UN office and wishes Omar luck.

In the UN interview, Omar becomes upset when required to relive and discuss the separation from his mother and his uncertainty about his mother’s fate; the grumpy interviewer shows that he feels empathy for Omar and Hassan when he fetches cold drinks of juice: “I think he was trying to… smile?” (185). The accompanying panel depicts the smile of a man completely unused to a display of happiness but who is trying to demonstrate kindness and understanding through words and manner. Later in Part 2, Omar forgets empathy when he becomes consumed by bitterness at the unfairness of his circumstances, but when he sees that Maryam is pregnant, she reminds him that he is not the only one with lost dreams. Then Omar is immediately empathetic: “For the first time in weeks I notice someone besides myself” (210).

In Part 3, Omar shares that he is worried about graduating because he believes his hopelessness regarding the circumstances of camp life will worsen without school and studies to distract him: “I’m ashamed to admit it, but I understand the appeal of khat sometimes. When people are suffering–and you can’t do anything to help… You want to forget” (230). Soon after this moment in which Omar empathizes with those who chew on khat (a plant whose stimulant qualities cause a mild euphoria), Omar sees the masses of refugees in the next camp, Dagahaley, and the vastness of their problems and stagnancy cause him to sit and weep. Here, empathy saves Omar again; this time, it is “the kindness of strangers. The promise of new friends” (239) when he realizes that a family generously took Hassan in to care for him. Empathy, therefore, is a quality evident in Omar and others despite their personal hardship; Omar learns as he grows that empathy can lessen the personal hardship of others.

Recognizing and Utilizing One’s Gifts

Part of Omar’s coming-of-age involves his growing ability to recognize and accept gifts. The novel’s inciting incident occurs when Omar is given a choice to attend school; Tall Salan makes it clear to Omar how valuable an education might be: “You have a gift, Omar. You’re smart. And when God gives you a gift, it is your job to use it” (33). These words set the stage for developing this theme throughout the story. Simple gifts come to Omar when Salan gives him a workbook and when Maryam constructs a swing. He is gifted clothing from the family of a boy who died from diabetes; he appreciates the new clothes very much and thinks of the way the boy’s heart used to beat beneath the same spot in the shirt as his does. Fatuma receives an important gift when her friend resettles out of the country; this gift is Brownie the goat, who provides milk and money to the family. Brownie also provides fulfillment for Hassan as he now has the chance to show his love and devotion through caring for Brownie.

More significantly, when Omar wants to stop going to school because some boys hurt Hassan, Maryam convinces Omar that he cannot throw away his chance to take the school exams and continue his education. Her words echo Salan’s and strengthen Omar’s belief in his abilities: “You have a gift, Omar. You’re smart, and you’re kind. You could help Hasan the other refugees like him—other refugees like me—if you keep going to school” (107). Omar realizes he cannot squander the opportunity; he passes his exams and begins middle school. Years later, he begins high school with the help of another gift from Susana: “When she learned I couldn’t buy a uniform, she bought one for me” (323).

Nimo shows that some gifts come with great sacrifice when she leaves for Canada with her family but must leave Maryam behind. Despite the grief and guilt she feels, she knows she must make the most of her gift of resettlement. Omar matures over the four years that pass before his gift of the chance at resettlement arrives, and he shows his wise appreciation for the gift of time: “But even in a refugee camp, my fate is in my hands. I wasn’t going to waste another minute of my life hoping for the impossible” (241). When he and Hassan leave Dadaab for America, Omar summarizes what he has learned about recognizing and utilizing gifts: “In a refugee camp, you are always reminded of the things you have lost. It is a valiant and agonizing struggle to focus not on what you have lost… but on what you have been given” (254).