Mariam’s Dream: The Story of Mariam Al-Shaar and Her Food Truck of Hope

Born in a Beirut refugee camp, Mariam Al-Shaar (b. 1972) “will never be Lebanese./ She is Palestinian but may never go to Palestine./ Mariam is the daughter of refugees—/people who live between worlds.” Though the camp walls “keep her from working,/ from growing, from dreaming,” she nevertheless yearns to “do something, and she knows she can’t do it alone.” When she reaches out to the women of her camp, they express a love of cooking, “flavors from Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.” The result is Soufra, a women-run food business operated within the camp that slowly, facing discriminatory setbacks, expands to a food truck. Though the creators only briefly touch on Al-Shaar’s childhood, Avedikian’s digital images employ bright hues along with textured splashes, swirls, and waves in this work about an individual who dared “to dream of a better tomorrow.” Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 5–8. (Apr.)