My Sister the Apple Tree, Jordan Scott
My Sister the Apple Tree, Jordan Scott
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My Sister the Apple Tree
A Refugee Story of Hope and Resilience

Author: Jordan Scott, Jamal Saeed

Narrator: Ali Nasser

Unabridged: 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/09/2025

Categories: Children's Fiction


Synopsis

In this moving audiobook, inspired by the author’s experience as a Syrian refugee, a child's profound love for his family's apple tree gives him courage when he must flee his homeland.

When a young boy asks his parents why he doesn’t have a brother or sister, his mother replies that on the day he was born, they planted an apple tree in their front yard. “The apple tree is your sister,” she says. At night, the boy wraps a blanket around his sister's trunk and during the day he shares all of his secrets with her. One day, they see helicopters in the sky and his parents tell him they must flee. But how can he leave his sister behind? Instead he digs her up and carries her away from their homeland. When they arrive to a new place, the air is colder and the ground is hard. Home feels so far away. But as his sister grows taller and her branches blossom, the boy realizes that he will always be connected to his homeland, even as he begins to embrace his new one.

This moving and hopeful refugee story is written by Syrian activist Jamal Saeed and co-written by acclaimed poet Jordan Scott. This audiobook reminds readers that nothing is left behind forever.

About The Author

Jordan Scott is a poet and children’s author. His debut children’s book, I Talk Like a River, was a Schneider Family Book Award recipient, a New York Times Best Children’s Book, and has been translated into nineteen languages. His other picture books include My Baba’s Garden, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book and New York Public Library Best Book of the Year, and Angela’s Glacier, which received four starred reviews. He lives on Vancouver Island and teaches at the UBC School of Creative Writing.Jamal Saeed is an activist, editor, visual artist, and author who spent years as a prisoner of conscience in Syria before fleeing to Canada with his family as refugees in 2016. He continues to raise awareness about Syria’s ongoing civil war and humanitarian crisis through his work. This is his first picture book. Jamal lives in Kingston, Ontario.Zahra Marwan grew up in two deserts: one close to the sea in Kuwait, the other close to the mountains in New Mexico. She is the author-illustrator of Where Butterflies Fill the Sky: A Story of Immigration, Family, and Finding Home, which was a New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Book, an NPR Best Book and recipient of an Ezra Jack Keats Honor for Illustration. Zahra lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she keeps a small studio at the Harwood Art Center.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara on September 20, 2025

Striking watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations featuring idyllic scenes of pages filled with soft pinks, yellows, and greens that contrast with other pages of threatening blacks, reds, oranges and scenes of danger and violence are at the heart of this moving story of resilience. The narrator, a y......more

Goodreads review by Kirin on March 10, 2025

I appreciate what this book does, but I don't know if the symbolism and personification of an apple tree though is too obvious. I get that it makes it more accessible, but it also makes it a bit ridiculous. Why not just take some seeds. It would be a lot easier than carrying a tree as you escape bom......more

Goodreads review by Diana on September 16, 2025

A great book about the difficulties that refugees face but it is also a book about hope and new starts.......more


Quotes

★ "Told through a child's perspective, this tender story about loss, resilience, and the power of connection is moving in both its storytelling and its artwork." —Booklist, starred review

"Tender care grounds a symbolic concept with conviction in this heartfelt picture book." —Publishers Weekly

"A poignant look at the human cost of wars and forced migration." —Kirkus Reviews

"[A] lovely refugee story of perseverance drawn from the author’s experiences." —School Library Journal