Cover Image: Aaliyah the Brave

Aaliyah the Brave

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Member Reviews

Aaliyah the Brave is an age-appropriate, touching, and important story. The illustrations were captivating. A must-buy for our library.

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An important message and topic to cover for kids in a safe and friendly way. This author definitely succeeded in that!

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A super important look at what kids experience when their parents are RIPPED (there is simply no other word for the absurdity of what is happening) from them by ICE. This is a very important book that would be important to have in classrooms across America as a resource.

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This book is about a young girl named Aaliyah who experiences her dad being taken away by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She is confused about why her dad won't come home and why they have to go to court. But at the end of the day, her dad comes back and everyone is all happy again.

Although this book is very cute and definitely is relevant to our times, I thought the ending was going to go in a different direction. I understand why the ending was a happy one, but from my understanding, these situations in real life aren't always so happy. I feel like it would have been more realistic if the ending went in the other direction because it offers false hope, but I do recognize that this is a children's book.

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A heartwrenching, but beautiful story displaying the resilience of immigrant children and their families. This book is emotional, honest, but still approachable.

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A simple tale to help children understand the US immigration system but does not give false hope, but exults waiting and bravery.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Books Go Social for the DRC of ”Aaliyah the Brave" by Rekha Sharma-Crawford. What an amazing, inspiring, and comforting book this was. It skillfully handles the very serious (and oftentimes scary for children) topic of immigration enforcement. This book is definitely much-needed, and would help any child (or even teens and adults) affected by immigration enforcement to better understand and connect with a story that reflects many families’ experiences. It is a matter of fact story and does not sensationalize or dwell upon the negatives or scary parts of the experience. I especially like the end, where children can be encouraged by both the specific characters and helpers in the book, as well as to make connections to other jobs and ways that they can use to make a difference.

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Sad that there needs to be a story on this but I found the author did a great job at explaining it in a way that would be easy for children to understand in a situation that isn’t easy.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Books Go Social for the DRC of ”Aaliyah the Brave" by Rekha Sharma-Crawford. What an amazing, inspiring, and comforting book this was. It skillfully handles the very serious (and oftentimes scary for children) topic of immigration enforcement. This book is definitely much-needed, and would help any child (or even teens and adults) affected by immigration enforcement to better understand and connect with a story that reflects many families’ experiences. It is a matter of fact story and does not sensationalize or dwell upon the negatives or scary parts of the experience. I especially like the end, where children can be encouraged by both the specific characters and helpers in the book, as well as to make connections to other jobs and ways that they can use to make a difference.

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This was a really important book highlighting the experiences of children when having to deal with ICE and immigration. I thought the message was good and I liked the way the book focussed on Aaliyah's feelings throughout the process - it wasn't necessarily particularly informative about the process, but that wasn't its point.

The illustrations were very sweet and I liked the multiculturalism in the background characters, but I do think it would have been nice to see a bit more of Aaliyah's own heritage - I know the author was trying to make it a universal story that could represent immigrants from anywhere, but it still felt slightly lacking.

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I loved the book “ Aaliyah the Brave.” It was about how children can cope with ice. The little girl has to learn to be brave and stay strong watching her father being taken away. How scary and very real this lesson is for children. As a teacher, I would have this story in my resources for kids who are having to go through scary situations and need comforting. The illustrations are nice too.

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Representation: 7
Story: 5
Illustration: 10

I appreciate that this book was written and can be a valuable resource to help children understand what happens around them. However, I feel that the mark was missed because it's a more helpful resource for children who are not in that situation.

I do work with immigrants (not in the USA). I can honestly say that I am yet to meet a child of both immigrant parents who uses "mommy and daddy." I wish the author had used those words in the language of Aaliyah's parents would be a great start.

Not being American and going by what I see in the news, dealing with ICE doesn't always have a positive outcome. I would be careful about giving false hopes to already emotionally vulnerable children.

** Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review. **

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Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon for this ARC

Great book to help children understand and deal with immigration (ICE) is USA. Tastefully written and with bright illustrations

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Children who have left one homeland for another have many reasons to fear for their future if someone official comes to their new home to take one or both of their parents away. It's not like in the past when my families came through Ellis Island and all the traumas were close in time. And people on my area tend to forget that ICE has issues with people other than the Spanish speaking or Chinese. Many other political refugees and voluntary immigrants are at risk as well. This small book is designed to reassure and empower these children and also raise awareness in children who are not at risk for this particular trauma. The wording of the story makes it readable by people of all ages and original languages.
All libraries need this book so we can all remember this message of the fears of all children who have been through more trauma than we know.
The illustrators of QBN Studios fill the pages with simple artistry which adds to the impact of this important resource.
I requested and received a free temporary PDF from BooksGoSocial via NetGalley. Thank you!

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Beautiful illustrations and highlights the beauty in multiculturalism. The children's book navigates the topic of immigration from the perspective of a brave young girl dealing with the separation of her family as a result of ICE. The story has a happy ending but I would love to see talking points from child psychologists to assist when having these tough conversations with kiddos during these difficult times.

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I think this book helps children understand an important message, and a different perspective. We’d all be better people if we got to understand other’s people’s perspectives.

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This is so good. It's about an immigrant family and even though my family's not an immigrant, I can feel the burden they got to carry. I love the writing, the contrast like "little house in a big city", and the way this story encouraging yet validating children's feeling. The illustrations also nice and I think every immigrant kids will love this book.

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This book tells the scary but common story of ICE investigations into immigrant families in the United States. Written as a support resource for parents and community workers supporting young children of detained immigrants, this book explains the process of ICE investigations and reminds children that they are loved and cared for even in scary moments like when a parent is taken away. I also think that slightly older children could benefit from reading this story to learn about the challenges immigrant families may face. I would recommend this book to be purchased with careful thought about introduction, especially with young children, but feel that it is an excellent resource. I would recommend this book for children ages 4-8. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

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This is a great book to teach children about immigration laws and court, or to help a child who is going through this situation. Beautiful book! Thank you for the opportunity to read and review!

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This book is a very helpful tool to help young children understand immigration and the importance of keeping families together. My daughter liked the pictures and the happy ending. I think it is a good idea to take these big concepts and make them understandable for children, and to give parents the tools they need to help explain them. I would recommend this book!

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