Customer Reviews

The Road From Home: A True Story of Courage, Survival and Hope

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This is one of the best first-hand accounts about the Genocide that I've read. FINALLY, a book was written about it for younger people. Once I start teaching, this will definitely be on my list of required reading.

Kherdian started off a bit slow--I wasn't sure I'd get through it. But once I hit page 20, I couldn't put it down! It was captivating, touching. I just wanted Veron to be okay--to be able to understand what was going on. For her to survive. Only two books have ever managed to bring tears to my eyes, and this was one of them.

Even though I'm not Armenian, I've read countless books about both Armenia and the Genocide. This definitely is one of the best. It's easy to understand (though the fact that it happened is still so difficult for me to comprehend).

If you're an Armenian parent (or grandparent!) struggling to tell your teen about it, this book will help greatly. I highly recommend it. Kherdian should be given high praises for having the courage to pen this book.

THE ROAD FROM HOME, A True Story of Courage, Survival and Hope by David Kherdian, Beech Tree Books Reviewed by Y. Stephen Bulbulian Although considered juvenile literature, poet David Kherdian's award-winning story of his mother's young life is a story of silent determination, hope and ultimately survival. This is far more than juvenile literature. Through unbelievable adversity and suffering, there is astounding good luck and grace in the face of misfortune. "The Road From Home" is also a sociological slice of life into the being and ways of the Armenians, historic inhabitants of Anatolia, now Turkish territory. Driven from their homes and massacred, this is a classic story of Armenian survival. The young girl, Veron Dumehjian, lived a placid life in the home of her well-to-do family. She loved her family home and the garden with "the poppies that grew beyond [the] garden wall." Her desire to return to the garden kept her hopes up during years of adversity. Kherdian describes the customs, traditions, holidays, rituals, the Armenian words, and even the food, that immortalizes the life of the peaceful people, annihilated by the Turkish genocide. This book is excellent sociology, written as no sociologist could.

In her eighth year, Veron's life, the Armenian homes and countryside are darkened by the black cloud of Turkish repression. In the latter-days of the previous century, and in 1909, in Adana, Armenians suffered barbarities at the hands of the Turks, under the rule of Abdul Hamid..

Young Veron began hearing words like "deportation, massacres and annihilation." Her uncles were conscripted into the Turkish army; World War One had broken out. Using the war as an excuse, the Turks began a protracted annihilation of the Armenians. Given three days to prepare, the Dumehjian family began their forced march from the family home into the Syrian desert. Veron slowly loses all of her immediate family, brother, sister, mother, father, grandfather during the course of the journey. She becomes an orphan, nearly starved and survives with the help of deposed women (aunties) from her village. Ending up in an orphanage in Aleppo, she becomes reacquainted with relatives. Miraculously, she returns to her beloved grandmother, still living in the family home in the old village, only to discover she could not return to the idealized home she dreamed of. All things had changed, all lives were irreparably damaged by the lose of loved ones and the destruction of the Armenians. Her own grandmother, with her family lost, becomes Veron's slave-master.

Relocated in Smyrna, on the Mediterranean coast, Veron lives through yet another round of atrocities at the hands of the Turks. With uncommon luck, she and an aunt are rescued and sent to a refugee camp in Greece, where life begins again in the pursuit of normalcy. From there, she becomes a gracious and beautiful young women and a fiancee to a pre-arranged marriage in America.

"The Road From Home, " is the story of insurmountable hardship and suffering inflicted on the soul of an innocent young girl. Her ability to block the horror and tragedy from her thoughts, sublimating the pain and death she experienced daily during the darkest moments, summonsed her strength and fortitude to live. Many souls were trampled, giving her life beauty and triumph.

An outstanding and award-winning book, it is the winner of the Newbery Honor Book Award, the Jane Addams Peace Award and many others. David Kherdian crafts his mother's story, a history similar to thousands of Armenian survivors in diaspora, a sad story filled with overriding hope. The magnitude of the story and the young girl's resilience, where strength and determination overcome adversity, makes this a moving and memorable reading experience, and a story to be remembered and retold.

This was a very good book depicting the Armenian Genocide. It should be mandatory reading for children in every school system. The author's portrayal of the story is not one-sided or biased in my opinion, he tells the story 'as is' without exaggerating...there are NO graphic details of rape, murder, starvation, disease, etc. I also liked it because it portrayed the wrongful actions of the Turkish government and did not bash the Turks as people....so there is no teaching of hate or anger towards the Turkish people.

Although this book may have been written for children and young adults it can be enjoyed by all adult readers. It is a first person narrative in the voice of a girl, Veron Dumehjian. She is a survivor and her story includes many twists and turns which are part of the family history of many Armenian and Greek Americans. A description of the 1922 Catastrophe at Smyrna is included as well as the dreadful 1915 march. Veron Dumehjian is a real heroine for our time, worthy of emulation. This book, written by her son, is not a novel but is a smooth read and moves along quickly. (I would recommend "Zabelle" for a recent fictionalized comparable tale.)

The Road From Home is a wonderfully told account of a young Armenian girl, Veron, who was forced out of her home in Turkey. She and her family were sent into the desert by the Turkish government to die. The Armenian Genocide is an event in history that not many people know about. Reading this book will give a better understanding of this unspeakably horrible act in history. As an Armenian myself, I would like to recommend this book to everyone so they may be able to understand what the Armenian race in Turkey went through in the year 1915, and how the survivors dealt with losing their families.

The Road From Home
By David Kherdian

The Road From Home is about a girl named Veron Kherdian who lives in Turkey. She is a member of one of the wealthiest families. In 1915, the Turkish made all the Armenians who didn't have a son or husband in the army leave. Veron and her family had to leave and travel a dangerous journey in a wagon. When they reach Gatma, there is a cholera epidemic. All of her brothers and sisters are killed by this disease. Soon after, her mother also dies, but not because of cholera. Her mother dies because of a broken heart. She could not face life after the death of all of Veron's siblings. The Varjabeds, another family at Gatma, Veron, and her father escape one night to Birijik. Her father and Baron Varjabed go to Baghdad to work for the government. Sometime afterwards, Veron's father dies, so she goes to live with her relatives. When she can't attend school because her relatives won't pay for it, she decided to go to an orphanage. When she tells her relatives, she finds out that they don't even care about her. They only care about what their friends will think about Veron going to an orphanage. There she
makes many friends. One day her relatives came and brought her back to Azizya. She finds out that her favorite aunt, Aunt Lousapere, and cousin, Hrpsime,who lives in an orphanage in Smyrna, have moved to Smyrna. Veron decides to move there to live with her. When they are attacked, they moved to Athens. They live in a college with many other people. One of her friends who used to live at the college who lives close by, invites her to visit, where Veron finds a big surprise!

I don't think that I can relate to Veron, because she is so brave. She knows how to do so many things and she is so smart. I think that I could relate to Geulia, a girl who lives in the college too. She is really funny and she loves candy, which is why she works at a candy factory.

I really like The Road from Home. My favorite part of the book was the end because it was so much happier than most of the book. I like the family that her friend introduced her to. I didn't like when the people are stuck in a church during the attack. This part is when the people of Symrna are stuck in a church and if they go out, they will be killed. If I could change a part in the book, I would change that part because it was so sad and scary.

I would recommend this book because it is so inspiring. I love how Veron was so brave and can handle problems so well. She was grateful for everything and she is really helpful to everyone I the book. I couldn't put the book down. It was a really moving and touching book.

...I wanted to find a book about Armenians so I went to the library and typed it into the search computers.I found this book and it looked very good to read so I could learn more about the Genocide. I enjoyed the story of her life and how strong she stayed through the Genocide.It was a well balanced book, some of it was very sad and some of was funny at times.It really makes you feel how lucky you are.This is a great book that everyone should read.

The road from home is perhaps the best children's book I've ever read. The genocide of the Armenians is a period of history that is greatly overlooked. This book presents a chilling account of one girl's experience in that terrible time when the Turks decided to eliminate the Armenian population. The author does this in a way that is neither too depressing for children to grasp nor is it too flip to be meaningful. I could not recommend this book more highly. It is a must-read for anyone.

I thought this was an excellent book. It gave me a better understanding on my Armenian backround. It's a true story about a young girl growing up in the 1900's. Everything was great until one day bombs went off and her family had to flee. Just imagine being a young woman and having to leave your life behind and run for your life, not knowing what will happen in the future. Seeing your family and friends be robbed, raped, starved, beaten, and worse killed. The Armenians did no crimes they were just hated. This is a very similar expierence that my family went through. I think young adults and adults should read this book because, we can develop a deeper understanding of our past.

I really enjoyed The Road From Home. It was an interesting biography about an Armenian girl named Veron Dumehjian. She tells us of her life during the early 1900's when the Turkish government attempted to rid Turkey of its Armenian population. She and her family are torn from their quiet, wealthy lifestyle in Azizya. They are forced to march without being told where they are going. This is a beautiful story of Veron's strength and will to be alive.
As I was reading this book, I felt the intensity of Veron's emotions. She struggles to hold onto sanity as "the great dome of Heaven cracked and shattered" over her life. In some ways I can relate to Veron in the way that she cares for her family more than herself.
David Kherdian, the author, really does use an abstract way to describe the emotions of the characters. An example of this when he wrote, "Slowly, our lives fell into a pattern as we began to live with our sorrows and make a new life," to describe when Veron was getting used to her life after her parents and siblings had died. He uses descriptive words and has a clear plot line. There were very few moments during this book when I felt confused.
Over all, The Road from Home was a sad, but enjoyable book. It was sad because of the things that Veron must go through. It was enjoyable because of how well written and unique it is. This book really does show how someone's life can change in the blink of an eye.