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Alia's Mission
  • Published: 15 March 2010
  • ISBN: 9780375857638
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $19.99

Alia's Mission

Saving the Books of Iraq

Formats & editions
EBook
13 Mar 2018
Paperback
15 Mar 2010
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Now in Dragonfly, Mark Alan Stamaty's Alia's Mission is ideal for classroom use in discussions about war and current events. Using a graphic novel form, Mark Alan Stamaty brings to life the inspiring story of one librarian who attempted to save some of these irreplacable treasures from imminent destruction (the library was ultimately destroyed in a fire) in the war in Iraq. This momentous story bears comparisons to Art Spiegelman's Maus and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. We are timing the release of this paperback edition with Mark's new picture book, Shake, Rattle & Turn That Noise Down!

The inspiring story of an Iraqi librarian's courageous fight to save books from the Basra Central Library before it was destroyed in the war.
It is 2003 and Alia Muhammad Baker, the chief librarian of the Central Library in Basra, Iraq, has grown worried given the increased likelihood of war in her country. Determined to preserve the irreplacable records of the culture and history of the land on which she lives from the destruction of the war, Alia undertakes a courageous and extremely dangerous task of spiriting away 30,000 books from the library to a safe place.
Told in dramatic graphic-novel panels by acclaimed cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty, Alia's Mission celebrates the importance of books and the freedom to read, while examining the impact of war on a country and its people.
  • Published: 15 March 2010
  • ISBN: 9780375857638
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $19.99
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Praise for Alia's Mission

"Stamaty's straightforward, slightly exaggerated graphic style carries the power of his story forward and end notes add information on the importance of Iraq in the history of language and libraries. Worthy and compelling." --Kirkus Reviews

"A fast-paced and informative Middle Eastern study for younger audiences." --School Library Journal

"Stamaty tells Alia's story in graphic novel style, capturing the passion of this very different kind of comics hero and the terror and violence of war." --San Francisco Chronicle