Children of the Roojme: A Family's Journey

In this lyrical memoir of her Lebanese-American family, Elmaz Abinader offers a vivid account of uprooted and resettled lives. Spinning four generations and two continents, Children of the Roojme is the story of a family from the mountains of Lebanon and their emigration to western Pennsylvania. More than that, it bears intimate witness to the hardships of World War I, the disintegrating Ottoman empire, abandonment of centuries-old villages, and the New World conflict between cultural tradition and assimilation. Personal and poignant, Abinader's story reclaims a very real family and its memories; it is an immigrant's tale that speaks to all Americans.