The title of "An Armenian Family" belies the sweeping history of the Armenian people the author manages to stuff into 53 pages. Providing a brief history or cultural overlook of any one people is difficult, but the task becomes more daunting when the story begins with the birth Mesopotamia. Still, the story is effectively told through the vehicle of one Armenian family forced to first flee Artsakh, then Baku, and finally post-Soviet Moscow to the (presumed) safety of Brooklyn.

This book is a good introduction to the complex topics of refugees seeking asylum in America, Armenian history, and to a certain extent the history of Soviet Transcaucasia. Neither light nor obvious topics for children's literature, but that makes this book an even more important edition to any modern children's library.

My sole concern about the book is its willingness to frame Azeri-Armenian conflict along religious lines, when at its core, the conflict has more to do with ethnicity. This could potentially be problematic for readers with a preexisting confirmation bias regarding Christian persecution, or anti-Muslim sentiment.

I do think the book could have benefitted from mentioning that Stalin decided to create chaos in Transcaucasia between the Azeris and Armenians because he was himself Georgian, but this piece of information might have only unnecessarily expanded an already complex story, so I respect the author's decision. ( )