What Strange Paradise: A Novel
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)
Published:
Books on Tape 2021
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the widely acclaimed, bestselling author of American War—a beautifully written, unrelentingly dramatic, and profoundly moving novel that looks at the global refugee crisis through the eyes of a child.
"Told from the point of view of two children, on the ground and at sea, the story so astutely unpacks the us-versus-them dynamics of our divided world that it deserves to be an instant classic." —The New York Times Book Review
More bodies have washed up on the shores of a small island. Another overfilled, ill-equipped, dilapidated ship has sunk under the weight of its too many passengers: Syrians, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Palestinians, all of them desperate to escape untenable lives back in their homelands. But miraculously, someone has survived the passage: nine-year-old Amir, a Syrian boy who is soon rescued by Vänna. Vänna is a teenage girl, who, despite being native to the island, experiences her own sense of homelessness in a place and among people she has come to disdain. And though Vänna and Amir are complete strangers, though they don’t speak a common language, Vänna is determined to do whatever it takes to save the boy.
In alternating chapters, we learn about Amir’s life and how he came to be on the boat, and we follow him and the girl as they make their way toward safety. What Strange Paradise is the story of two children finding their way through a hostile world. But it is also a story of empathy and indifference, of hope and despair—and about the way each of those things can blind us to reality.
"Told from the point of view of two children, on the ground and at sea, the story so astutely unpacks the us-versus-them dynamics of our divided world that it deserves to be an instant classic." —The New York Times Book Review
More bodies have washed up on the shores of a small island. Another overfilled, ill-equipped, dilapidated ship has sunk under the weight of its too many passengers: Syrians, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Palestinians, all of them desperate to escape untenable lives back in their homelands. But miraculously, someone has survived the passage: nine-year-old Amir, a Syrian boy who is soon rescued by Vänna. Vänna is a teenage girl, who, despite being native to the island, experiences her own sense of homelessness in a place and among people she has come to disdain. And though Vänna and Amir are complete strangers, though they don’t speak a common language, Vänna is determined to do whatever it takes to save the boy.
In alternating chapters, we learn about Amir’s life and how he came to be on the boat, and we follow him and the girl as they make their way toward safety. What Strange Paradise is the story of two children finding their way through a hostile world. But it is also a story of empathy and indifference, of hope and despair—and about the way each of those things can blind us to reality.
Formats
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Works on MP3 Players, PCs, and Macs. Some mobile devices may require an application to be installed.
OverDrive Listen
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
Subjects
Subjects
More Details
Format:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
07/20/2021
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780593349281
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Omar El Akkad. (2021). What Strange Paradise: A Novel. Unabridged Books on Tape.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Omar El Akkad. 2021. What Strange Paradise: A Novel. Books on Tape.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Omar El Akkad, What Strange Paradise: A Novel. Books on Tape, 2021.
MLA Citation (style guide)Omar El Akkad. What Strange Paradise: A Novel. Unabridged Books on Tape, 2021.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
| Library | Owned | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Digital Collection | 2 | 1 |
There is 1 hold on this title.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
e10061eb-c619-c731-dc68-812d14f9f55b
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jul 16, 2021 15:08:29
Date Updated:
Nov 07, 2022 22:05:53
Last Metadata Check:
Apr 22, 2024 10:01:40
Last Metadata Change:
Apr 15, 2024 17:58:07
Last Availability Check:
Apr 22, 2024 10:01:42
Last Availability Change:
Apr 22, 2024 10:01:42
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Apr 23, 2024 02:10:41
OverDrive Product Record
- images
- cover:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/{7A9B19AA-3DB0-4A48-B5B1-0E0A98F068F6}Img100.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- thumbnail:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1191-1/{7A9B19AA-3DB0-4A48-B5B1-0E0A98F068F6}Img200.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover150Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1191-1/7A9/B19/AA/{7A9B19AA-3DB0-4A48-B5B1-0E0A98F068F6}Img150.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover300Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1191-1/7A9/B19/AA/{7A9B19AA-3DB0-4A48-B5B1-0E0A98F068F6}Img400.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover:
- formats
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780593349281
- name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
- id: audiobook-mp3
- identifiers:
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780593349281
- name: OverDrive Listen
- id: audiobook-overdrive
- identifiers:
- mediaType
- Audiobook
- primaryCreator
- role: Author
- name: Omar El Akkad
- title
- What Strange Paradise
- dateAdded
- 2021-07-16T20:18:00Z
- contentDetails
- href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=5832327
- type: text/html
- account:
- name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
- id: 1151
- sortTitle
- What Strange Paradise A Novel
- crossRefId
- 5832327
- subtitle
- A Novel
- id
- 7A9B19AA-3DB0-4A48-B5B1-0E0A98F068F6
- starRating
- 3.7
OverDrive MetaData
- isPublicDomain
- False
- formats
- duration: 06:40:52
- fileName: WhatStrangeParadise_9780593349274_5832327
- partCount: 6
- fileSize: 191015526
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780593349281
- rights:
- type: PlayOnPC
- value: 1
- type: PlayOnPCCount
- value: -1
- type: BurnToCD
- value: 1
- type: BurnToCDCount
- value: -1
- type: PlayOnPM
- value: 1
- type: TransferToSDMI
- value: 1
- type: TransferToNonSDMI
- value: 1
- type: TransferCount
- value: -1
- type: CollaborativePlay
- value: 0
- type: PublicPerformance
- value: 0
- type: TranscodeToAAC
- value: 1
- name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
- isReadAlong: False
- id: audiobook-mp3
- onSaleDate: 7/20/2021
- samples:
- source: Part 1
- formatType: audiobook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=7a9b19aa-3db0-4a48-b5b1-0e0a98f068f6&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- duration: 06:37:54
- fileName: OverDrive_36513
- partCount: 0
- fileSize: 190992715
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780593349281
- name: OverDrive Listen
- isReadAlong: False
- id: audiobook-overdrive
- onSaleDate: 7/20/2021
- samples:
- source: Part 1
- formatType: audiobook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=7a9b19aa-3db0-4a48-b5b1-0e0a98f068f6&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- creators
- role: Author
- fileAs: Akkad, Omar El
- bioText: OMAR EL AKKAD is an author and a journalist. He has reported from Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, and many other locations around the world. His work earned Canada's National Newspaper Award for Investigative Journalism and the Goff Penny Award for young journalists. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Le Monde, Guernica, GQ, and many other newspapers and magazines. His debut novel, American War, is an international bestseller and has been translated into thirteen languages. It won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, the Oregon Book Award for fiction, and the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, and has been nominated for more than ten other awards. It was listed as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, NPR, and Esquire, and was selected by the BBC as one of 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.
- name: Omar El Akkad
- role: Narrator
- fileAs: Graham, Dion
- name: Dion Graham
- imprint
- Random House Audio
- publishDate
- 2021-07-20T00:00:00-04:00
- edition
- Unabridged
- isOwnedByCollections
- True
- title
- What Strange Paradise
- fullDescription
- A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the widely acclaimed, bestselling author of American War—a beautifully written, unrelentingly dramatic, and profoundly moving novel that looks at the global refugee crisis through the eyes of a child.
"Told from the point of view of two children, on the ground and at sea, the story so astutely unpacks the us-versus-them dynamics of our divided world that it deserves to be an instant classic." —The New York Times Book Review
More bodies have washed up on the shores of a small island. Another overfilled, ill-equipped, dilapidated ship has sunk under the weight of its too many passengers: Syrians, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Palestinians, all of them desperate to escape untenable lives back in their homelands. But miraculously, someone has survived the passage: nine-year-old Amir, a Syrian boy who is soon rescued by Vänna. Vänna is a teenage girl, who, despite being native to the island, experiences her own sense of homelessness in a place and among people she has come to disdain. And though Vänna and Amir are complete strangers, though they don’t speak a common language, Vänna is determined to do whatever it takes to save the boy.
In alternating chapters, we learn about Amir’s life and how he came to be on the boat, and we follow him and the girl as they make their way toward safety. What Strange Paradise is the story of two children finding their way through a hostile world. But it is also a story of empathy and indifference, of hope and despair—and about the way each of those things can blind us to reality. - reviews
- premium: True
- source:
- content:
May 24, 2021
Akkad (American War) delivers a stirring if straightforward account of a young boy’s flight from Syria during the country’s civil war. Amir Utu sets out for Egypt with his mother, uncle/stepfather Younis, and baby stepbrother. When Younis boards a ferryboat overloaded with migrants, Amir follows him and ends up on a disastrous journey across the Mediterranean, of which he is the sole survivor. The details of what went wrong emerge gradually: first, Amir flees from soldiers on an unnamed island’s beach. He is then found by disaffected 15-year-old Vänna Hermes, who helps him evade detention. Here, Akkad explores a world in which migrants routinely wash up dead on the beach and are viewed as an inconvenience for wealthy tourists. The chapters alternate between the “Before” and “After” of Amir’s arrival on the island, chronicling the characters and challenges Amir faces on the boat and on land, and depicting the injustice, intolerance, and violence that refugees face in a hostile global landscape. The result is a moving if somewhat predictable story of survival and the need for compassion and camaraderie across languages, cultures, religions, and borders. While readers may find themselves wishing for more complexity, there is plenty of moral clarity. Agent: Anne McDermid, CookeMcDermid.
- premium: True
- source:
- content: This is a remarkable, timely listen about an event taken from today's headlines. El Akkad's novel follows the journey of a very young Syrian refugee who survives a shipwreck and washes up on a small island. There, he ends up being rescued by a teenage girl who is in many ways no better offer than the young protagonist. Not surprisingly, Dion Graham gives an assured and compassionate narration. In lesser hands, this story could easily have been maudlin or sensationalistic. Instead, Graham carries the listener along on a remarkable journey that is at times life altering and life affirming. This listen will engage and give a sense of just how far some will go, and the costs and sacrifices they'll make, to try to have better lives. J.P.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
- popularity
- 1287
- links
- self:
- href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/7a9b19aa-3db0-4a48-b5b1-0e0a98f068f6/metadata
- type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
- self:
- id
- 7a9b19aa-3db0-4a48-b5b1-0e0a98f068f6
- starRating
- 3.7
- images
- cover:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/{7A9B19AA-3DB0-4A48-B5B1-0E0A98F068F6}Img100.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- thumbnail:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1191-1/{7A9B19AA-3DB0-4A48-B5B1-0E0A98F068F6}Img200.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover150Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1191-1/7A9/B19/AA/{7A9B19AA-3DB0-4A48-B5B1-0E0A98F068F6}Img150.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover300Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1191-1/7A9/B19/AA/{7A9B19AA-3DB0-4A48-B5B1-0E0A98F068F6}Img400.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover:
- isPublicPerformanceAllowed
- False
- languages
- code: en
- name: English
- subjects
- value: Fiction
- value: Literature
- publishDateText
- 07/20/2021
- mediaType
- Audiobook
- shortDescription
- A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the widely acclaimed, bestselling author of American War—a beautifully written, unrelentingly dramatic, and profoundly moving novel that looks at the global refugee crisis through the eyes of a child.
"Told from the point of view of two children, on the ground and at sea, the story so astutely unpacks the us-versus-them dynamics of our divided world that it deserves to be an instant classic." —The New York Times Book Review
More bodies have washed up on the shores of a small island. Another overfilled, ill-equipped, dilapidated ship has sunk under the weight of its too many passengers: Syrians, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Palestinians, all of them desperate to escape untenable lives back in their homelands. But miraculously, someone has survived the passage: nine-year-old Amir, a Syrian boy who is soon rescued by Vänna. Vänna is a teenage girl, who, despite... - sortTitle
- What Strange Paradise A Novel
- crossRefId
- 5832327
- awards
- source: Scotiabank Giller
- value: Scotiabank Giller Prize
- subtitle
- A Novel
- publisher
- Books on Tape
- bisacCodes
- code: FIC037000
- description: Fiction / Political
- code: FIC043000
- description: Fiction / Coming of Age
- code: FIC071000
- description: Fiction / Friendship
