Hi, everybody! We're back from New York (and, as predicted, totally broke). On a truly book-geeky trip to the New York Public Library, we picked up a copy of this book in the gift shop:


Alia's Mission , by Mark Alan Stamaty, is the true story of Alia Muhammad Baker, who saved 30,000 books from Iraq's Central Library of Basra (almost seventy percent of the library's collection) before the building was destroyed by fire nine days after the British invaded. Weeks before war broke out, Baker went to the government for help, which was denied without explanation. Baker began smuggling books into her house and eventually enlisted the help of various friends and neighbors, some of whom weren't even literate. Alia's Mission, which is told in graphic novel format, would make a beautiful present for any bibliophile. It's a great book.

Note: Another excellent version of Baker's story has been told in The Librarian of Basra, by Jeanette Winter.

Labels: Children’s Book