Page 1 - A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return, Expanded Edition

WHEN ZEINA WAS BORN, THE CIVIL WAR IN LEBANON HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR ABIRACHED
SIX YEARS, SO IT’S JUST A NORMAL PART OF LIFE FOR HER AND HER PARENTS AND
LITTLE BROTHER. THE CITY OF BEIRUT IS CUT IN TWO BY BRICKS AND SANDBAGS,
THREATENED BY SNIPERS AND SHELLING. EAST BEIRUT IS FOR CHRISTIANS, AND
WEST BEIRUT IS FOR MUSLIMS. WHEN ZEINA’S PARENTS DON’T RETURN FROM A
VISIT TO THE OTHER HALF OF THE CITY, AND THE BOMBING GROWS CLOSER, THE
NEIGHBORS IN HER APARTMENT HOUSE CREATE A WORLD INDOORS FOR ZEINA
AND HER BROTHER, WHERE THEY CAN SHARE COOKING LESSONS AND GAMES AND
GOSSIP. TOGETHER THEY TRY TO MAKE IT THROUGH A DRAMATIC EVENING IN THE A GAME FOR SWALLOWS
ONE PLACE THEY HOPED THEY WOULD ALWAYS BE SAFE---HOME.
Expanded EditiOn
THIS EXPANDED EDITION OF A GAME FOR SW ALLOW S FEATURES A NEW,
ILLUSTRATED AFTERW ORD, AS ABIRACHED REFLECTS ON THE MEANING OF HER
MEMOIR’S TITLE, THE GRAFFITI THAT INSPIRED IT, AND THE FUTURE OF BEIRUT.

“ A moving tale about the hardships of an ordinary family
living in an extraordinary part of the world.”
—Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese and Dragon Hoops

★ “This superb memoir is destined to become a classic.”
—starred, School Library Journal

A USBBY OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL BOOK TO DIE, TO LEAVE, TO RETURN

an imprint of EXPANDED EDITION
lerner publishing group
www.lernerbooks.com