Set against the backdrop of the ongoing Syrian civil war and the resulting refugee crisis, Wild Poppies is the story of two brothers, Omar and Sufyan. As the novel opens, they, along with their mother and younger sister, have been displaced to their aunt’s home in a village named Al-Nuaman, or “the poppy flower.” Their beloved father died in air strike, and as the older brother, Omar is now the putative head of the family.

But his younger brother Sufyan does not think that his brother is up to the task of providing for the family, and he chafes at being told what to do. Omar is more cautious and gentle, while Sufyan is spontaneous and rebellious. Sufyan decides to take matters into his own hands, and connects with a group of men who offer him the food and money his family desperately needs. All the boy has to do is attend lessons at their religious educational center and recruit other boys to accompany him. It’s so easy! The arrangement seems “like the best kind of dream.”

One can well predict exactly what kind of dream this might be. Bit by bit, Sufyan is exposed to extremist religious ideology. He and many other boys are eventually taken under false pretenses to a military camp. Sufyan realizes he has been duped, and resolves to escape back to his family. Back in Al-Nuaman, Omar is sure his brother has been kidnapped. But the arrival of both airstrikes and armed militias in the village force the older boy to escape. Will Omar and Sufyan survive their respective ordeals? Will they ever find the other, and reunite with their mother and sister? Is safety even possible?

Written by Jordanian author Haya Saleh, Wild Poppies more than merits its inclusion in the 2024 shortlist for the GLLI Translated YA Book Prize. Told in Omar and Sufyan’s alternating viewpoints, it is both a suspenseful and hopeful book, with fast action and movement. It is also introspective and lyrical. Omar and Sufyan are not always the most sympathetic of protagonists. They are complex and contradictory and real—they are true to life tweens and teens. At times they are both infuriating, especially Sufyan, who reminded me so much of Keith, the headstrong younger brother of protagonist Lauren Olamina in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. There is much in Wild Poppies to discuss, including visions of masculinity, community care, solidarity, and the meaning of family.

The translation by Marcia Lynx Qualey is accessible to even middle grades readers, and adult readers may find themselves finishing the book in one day. Coming in at 178 pages and twenty-three chapters, with no chapter longer than 10 pages, it might even prove accessible and appealing to more reluctant readers. Public and school libraries should make every effort to expand their collections of Arabic literature translated into English, and this award-winning book (for both its English and Arabic versions) is an ideal addition.

Title:  Wild Poppies

Written by Haya Saleh

Translated from Arabic by Marcia Lynx Qualey

Levine Querido, 2023

Originally published as النعمان شقائق by Al Yasmine Publishing, 2020

Awards: Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated Young Adult Book Prize Shortlist, 2024

ISBN: 9781646142019

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Reviews: Kirkus, The Horn Book, Publishers Weekly, Foreword Reviews, The New Arab, Booklist

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Klem-Marí Cajigas has been with Nashville Public Library since 2012, after more than a decade of academic training in Religious Studies and Ministry. As the Family Literacy Coordinator for Bringing Books to Life!, Nashville Public Library’s award-winning early literacy outreach program, she delivers family literacy workshops to a diverse range of local communities. In recognition of her work, she was named a 2021 Library Journal “Mover and Shaker.” Born in Puerto Rico, Klem-Marí is bilingual, bicultural, and proudly Boricua.