This is a pretty intense book. It reminded me of [book: Persepolis] because it's like a comic book about civil unrest in the Middle East. I wouldn't read this if you're feeling light-hearted. Best shared with kids who can handle a little scariness and drama. ( )

Quick read for anyone who 💕 books! I loved this story. #librariesrule ( )

"Alia's Mission" is about an Iraqi librarian's brave decision to save the books from Central Library in Basra, Iraq before being destroyed in the war. Alia has loved books since as long as she could remember. Books have taught her most of what she knows. To Alia books are like people, they have feelings and personalities. Later in the story Alia finds out that the war going on in Iraq is moving toward Basra. Alia is extremely worried about the books because the books are full of history and she doesn't want the Iraqi history and culture to be destroyed. Right away Alia starts filling up her car with books and storing them in her house. The whole city gets involved in this mission of saving the books. At the end of the story Alia and the city save over 30,000 books. ( )

Genre: Informational- it is a true story
Summary: This book was about a woman who saved books from a library during the war in Iraq.
Use in classroom: If you are doing a unit on saving books, or the Iraq war, this would be an amazing book. However, it might be too serious for younger grades.
Age Appropriateness: 3rd and up ( )

I liked Alia’s mission because it was written in a comic book fashion as opposed to the typical picture storybook way. It was an interesting diversion in my opinion. The book focuses on a woman who is living in a war-ridden Iraq and she is afraid that the library at which she works will be destroyed, ridding the world of the irreplaceable records of the culture and history of the country forever. The main ideas of the story are that you should stand up for what you believe in, and that if you think something should be done in any situation, sometimes it’s up to you to act on it. This historical fiction novel helped me as a reader understand what people who live in Iraq might have, or what they are currently going through. For example, at one point in the book, the main character Alia states, “With one bomb or one fire, all those books could be destroyed, just like the great library in Baghdad”. This made me see how people in other countries live in constant fear and have come to expect horrendous things to happen to their towns because of war. This is something that I have yet to experience personally and this book did a good job of making Alia’s situation seem relatable. ( )