The Eleventh Trade by Alyssa Hollingsworth (review)

Afghan refugee Sami and Baba, his grandfather, traveled through many countries before settling in Boston. There Baba's rebab, a musical instrument, enables Baba to make money busking in the subway, so when the rebab is stolen, Sami is determined to get it back. His new school friend, Dan, helps him track the instrument to a second-hand shop, but Sami doesn't have the money to retrieve it. What he does have is Dan, who insists that Sami join his soccer team and who proves enormously resourceful as Sami devises a plan to trade his way to his goal. Meanwhile, Sami works through the painful and traumatic memories that haunt both him and Baba, making the book a useful vehicle for discussing PTSD in ways entirely accessible to the middle grade reader, while the examples of Dan and the other community members offer inspiration for action as well as empathy. Sami's resourcefulness and commitment update the economic component of Rawlings' Where the Red Fern Grows for a new generation, and the book sensitively portrays the contemporary challenges faced by refugees plagued by impossibly difficult experiences to work through and the ways friends can help them find a new home.