We each want to find our place in the world. Some children deal with trauma, and a few deal with trauma upon trauma. For Daja, surviving is awful, depriving her not only of her family, but also separating her from her cultural group. Pierce weaves a rich world of many religions and languages, customs and beliefs, but this is a story of celebrating diversity and finding yourself even in the most trying of times. The people who cast you out may start to value you, may want you back… and maybe you want that, or maybe you need to be who you are. I read this as a preteen, revisit as an adult, and share with any child old enough to sit still and listen or read for themself.