This is a stunningly illustrated account of the 2011 Arab Spring’ in Egypt that endangered the Great Library of Alexandria and led to the selfless act of thousands of students, library workers, and other volunteers who formed a human chain to protect the priceless collection. Captioned Photographs, History Notes, Pictorial Glossary, Author’s Notes.

Top 100 pick because:

First off all I cried. In a good way this time, with joy and pride. Not with heartbreak like I've done with other books I've read recently, such as 'The Day War Came'. The collage illustrations make me happy and the story is about protecting a library, and not just any library but the modern day Library of Alexandria. How can you not be moved by that? Especially when the narrative voice is telling it in first person as if it's occurring while you're reading it. ( )

Good informational book about how people came together holding hands around a library to protect it from vandals.it was an 18 day protest on January 25, 2022. They wanted Mubarak to resign as president of Egypt after 30 years in office. More than 800 people died.
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I love this book. This is a great story for children to read to learn about the “Arab Spring”. This is such a historical time in Egypt’s history it is so important children know about it. The book is written in a way that is age appropriate for children to understand for example it says “Once upon a time, not a time long ago many people in Egypt were sad and sometimes angry, because they were not free to speak, or vote as they wished, or gather in groups. They knew about freedom, but only from books, or the Internet, or whispering, inside these safe walls of our Alexandria library.” The content of the book is heavy but, the language the author uses is simple for the children to understand but, complex enough to get the point across. The book also introduces children to the great library of Alexandria which is one of the wonders of the world. Again, this book brings cultural awareness to the reader. The book also points out to younger children freedom is not something everyone is fortunate to have. I love the artwork in the book, it has photographs of the protests and the library. I love the colors, and styles of the book. The illustrations include Arabic writing on the protesters signs. This is a great book to read. ( )

In my opinion, this is an excellent story for children to read to learn about the true struggle to keep an Egyptian library standing. This book includes an exciting plot that is based on a true story. The story tells of Egyptian citizens fighting to keep their cherished library standing when new citizens want to demolish the library. The citizens have to protest to save their library. One thing that I liked right away about this story that I haven’t seen in many other children’s books is that it incorporates real photographs of the library and the citizens who protect it. The illustrations are beautifully made out of collages of small, bright colored pieces of paper. This book teaches children about the struggles of many citizens who live in Egypt. This book is written in a way that is appropriate for young children to read. For example, the book states, “Once upon a time, not a time long ago, many people in Egypt were sad and sometimes angry, because they were not free to speak, or vote as they wished, or gather in groups. They knew about freedom, but only from books, or the Internet, or whispering, inside these safe walls of our Alexandria library.” The book pushes readers to broaden their perspectives about freedom. Many children and adults often forget that people in the United States are very fortunate because of freedom. People often forget that many people in other countries lack the freedom that people in the United States have. The big idea of this story is to show readers that they should fight for what they believe in. ( )