A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH, February 27,
2013

This title has nothing to do with the story, but I used it because I find this book a
treasure! It tells the story of two preteen girls living in a refugee camp in
Pakistan. Lina and Feroza become friends when a “clothing dump” arrives at their
tented camp. Both girls find one sandal and agree to take turns wearing them.
Most children can’t conceive of the hardships suffered by young children around
the world. This short book shows them in its illustrations, scrubbing clothes
clean with rocks in the stream, carrying jugs of water from the well, the girls
practicing their writing with sticks in the sand because there is only enough
room for the boys to learn in a small one room used as a school. As time goes on
the girls develop a deep friendship. One day Lina and her family find their
number posted on the board for placement in America! But Feroza and her
grandmother are not so lucky. Feroza offers her sandal to Lina because she will
need shoes in America. It turns out that Lina’s mother had saved enough sewing
money to buy leather shoes for her family. Feroza insists that she take the
sandal as a reminder of their friendship. Sadly, they say goodbye in hopes of
meeting again someday.

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