Smiling for Strangers

Reach for this book when your teenager is beginning to ask complex questions about global conflict, the refugee experience, or the internal strength required to survive when everything familiar is lost. It is a somber and deeply realistic account of fourteen-year-old Nina, who flees the destruction of Sarajevo to seek a friend of her mother's in England. The narrative deals directly with heavy themes of grief, displacement, and the loss of family, but it also highlights the profound resilience of the human spirit. Parents will find it an excellent choice for a mature middle or high schooler who is ready to move beyond sanitized history and explore the raw, emotional reality of modern war through a peer's eyes. It provides a vital window into the courage of those seeking safety in a foreign land.