Dance of the Banished

Armenian Genocide

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Ali and his fiancée Zeynep dream about leaving their home in Anatolia and building a new life together in Canada. But their homeland is controlled by the Turkish government, which is on the brink of war with Britain and Russia. And although Ali finds passage to Canada to work, he is forced to leave Zeynep behind until he can earn enough to bring her out to join him.

When the First World War breaks out and Canada joins Britain, Ali is declared an enemy alien. Unable to convince his captors that he is a refugee from an oppressive regime, he is thrown in an internment camp where he must count himself lucky to have a roof over his head and food to eat.

Meanwhile, Zeynep is a horrified witness to the suffering of her Christian Armenian neighbours under the Young Turk revolutionary forces. Caught in a country that is destroying its own people, she is determined to save a precious few. But if her plan succeeds, will Zeynep still find a way to cross the ocean to search out Ali? And if she does, will he still be waiting for her?

Genres: Young Adult, Historical, Historical Fiction, War, Fiction, Romance, World War I

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2014

About the author

Marsha Skrypuch is an internationally bestselling children’s author whose books span a century of wars from a kid’s view, concentrating on those stories that have been erased by oppressive regimes. Her best-known book is Making Bombs for Hitler. Her most recent is the Kidnapped from Ukraine trilogy. She has received death threats and honors for her writing. Marsha lives in Brantford, Ontario, Canada and you can visit her online at calla.com

Reviews

[Rachel Seigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciate historical fiction that informs me about an episode in history that isn't commonly discussed, and makes me want to know more about the period being written about. This book does both. I was equally horrified and inspired by the terrors that these people faced, and the courage they showed in their determination to survive. Definitely a grade 7 and up level title, but highly recommended.

[Barbra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on true events in Anatolia and Canada in 1914, during the breakout of World War I, we follow Ali and Zeynep as they write journals to each other, when Ali moves to Canada to secure a better life for them. It is a love story filled with tragedy when Ali is forced into a Canadian internment camp, and Zeynep faces horrors and suffering when the Ottoman Army marches through village after village leaving behind destruction and death. This inspiring book will appeal and enlighten readers ages 12 to adult.

[Stacey Socholotuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in one sitting, on a beautiful sunny day, in a place where I am free and privileged to lead the life I do. Once again, Skrypuch takes the reader into the heart, mind, and soul of the characters. An emotional read, this book will force to you think about the atrocities inflicted on so many of the past and the present. And it will cause you to question our humanity as beings who inhabit the earth. Are we always doomed to repeat the errors of past generations? Will we ever grow past the superficial beliefs we hold as cultures, countries, government organizations, and religious groups? Written as a journal, the story reads like a historical collection of small moments. Not born until these events were long past, I was unaware of the treatment that so many endured in my beloved homeland. An heart-wrenching read from start to finish. One that will leave you a more empathetic and kind hearted soul, or at least it should.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s "Dance of the Banished" (2014), targets a young adult audience and unfolds against the backdrop of the First World War in Anatolia and Canada. The book focuses on the journey of Ali and his fiancée Zeynep. Through a series of exchanged letters between the separated lovers, Skrypuch delves into the complexities of Anatolia under Turkish control, shedding light on the plight of Alevi Kurds and Armenians as well as the hardships faced by forced labourers in Canada. The intertwined narratives underscore a poignant love story amidst the broader historical context. Notably, this book not only presents lesser-known aspects of history but also fosters cross-cultural understanding, offering readers, including those less familiar with Armenian history like myself, a chance to grasp the global impact of the First World War. "Dance of the Banished" is both captivating and educational, catering to a wide audience encompassing both young adults and older readers alike.

[Aleksandra Litwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s book Dance of the Banished (2014) is a historical novel whose target audience is young adults. The story takes place during the First World War in Anatolia and Canada and revolves around Ali and his fiancée Zeynep. Since Ali goes to Canada to work and is forced to leave Zeynep in Anatolia, the book is written in the form of letters. Skrypuch tackles many themes such as Anatolia being under the control of the Turkish government, the suffering of Alevi Kurds and Armenians, and the struggles of forced labourer in Canada. The factor that ties all these plots together is the love story of the two main characters. The author presents an interesting history, which may be not known to many people around the world since a minority of people in Poland, where I am from, are interested in Armenian history. Dance of the Banished gives people the opportunity to learn something new and realise that the First World War took its toll on people in many countries. The book is interesting and engaging, and I am sure that it will be enjoyed by young adults and adults.

[Gabriele Goldstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how this author brings life to history and makes the reader realize it was real people like you and me who had unimaginably difficult lives. Skrypuch does the imagining for us. It's obvious that a lot of research lies behind the words and makes the story jump off the page and into our hearts. I appreciated the maps in the book and referred to them throughout my reading.I like reading a book where I escape, yes, but also learn something.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Circumstances tear two Alevi Kurds, Ali and his fiancée Zeynep, apart as he leaves his Anatolian home for a better life in Canada. Furious that he is leaving without her, Zeynep vows not to wait for him. Instead, she writes in her journal, recording the events of her daily life, her feelings, and later, after she leaves the village, the things she sees as turmoil fills the countryside. Seeking refuge with missionaries, she watches as many Armenians are rounded up and killed, and then many of her own peoples, face the same fate. Still, she remains determined to head to Canada and find Ali. Ali, meanwhile, started off promisingly in his new country only to be laid off for political reasons, then arrested and put in an internment camp. He, too, records his thoughts in case he ever meets Zeynep again. The author explores territory here that has been largely absent from history or literature for young adults. The bravery and determination of the main characters is unmatched, and the stories of heroism that are described here are inspiring. At times, though, it is hard to make sense of the conflict that leads to all this violence and killing, necessitating more explanation of the historical events as well as the Alevi Kurds themselves. Still, this is a riveting story told over the course of four years, 1913 to 1917.

[Valerie Sherrard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dance of the Banished is an ambitious work that creates two very different worlds and sets of experience and weaves them together through the bond of love between two young people. Anatolian teen Ali leaves his young sweetheart Zeynep behind in his quest for a new life in Canada - a life he hopes they will one day share. But things do not go well when war errupts and suspicion falls on the young immigrant. Meanwhile, Zeynep struggles to survive and keep hope alive in a land torn by revolution and war. These two very different journeys are portrayed brilliantly by Skrypuch in what may be her strongest work to date. Well done!!

[Devera C · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Great historical fiction book set place during WWI. The stories involved are with Armenia, Turkey, Russia, and the Alevi Kurds. I am not a history buff, but the details of the book want me to find out more about this particular part of the war and find out more about the persecution of so many people. In addition, the book is a "love story" but not in an ooey gooey kind of way - more so, it's the type of love story of how truly against all odds, love can still win out. Great book that I think would be a great tie-in for any world history class.

[Kate Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully researched, moving tale about the Armenian genocide from the unique point of view of Alevi Kurds on either side of the Atlantic - under threat at home and interned in Canada. Bringing to light a little-known part of history with a strong story.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and completely engrossing work of historical fiction touching upon the Armenian Genocide, Canadian history, the Ottoman Empire and World War I, a small ancient religion in Anatolia, and more!

[Tanya Mykytiuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Beautifully written account of the Armenian genocide told through the eyes of a young Alevi Kurd woman, and contrasted with her fiancé's experiences in a Canadian internment camp. I couldn't put it down.... turning page after page, eager to know how and if they would be re-united.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated this book for many reasons. A. It was a YA book about the Armenian genocide, which I haven't seen much about. B. It was about Canadian internment camps during WWI. I didn't even know Canada had internment camps, so that was an interesting setting that will lead me to learning more. C. It was about Alevis, a religion I knew nothing about. So all in all, I learned a lot. That's very important for me. It was also well-written and engaging, so it meant that I was able to enjoy it while learning from it. Very happy I randomly came across this in the Vancouver Public Library (they had it marked as Canadian fiction, something I was trying to read more of while here on vacation).

[Jessica Nekuda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another blind date book. It is incredible what happened to everyone.

[melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confession: When I first got the e-mail asking if I wanted to review Dance of the Banished by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch I misread the title as Dance of the Banshee. So I immediately said I would review it because I have a thing for banshee stories (all things Celtic/Gaelic really, hence the names of my children). I wasn’t even sure if I was ready to start accepting books to review yet but I thought banshees would be a good reason to start.

So imagine my surprise when I actually took the time to read through the synopsis of the book (instead of quickly reading through the email on my phone) and discovered there were no banshees to be found in the narrative. Instead of mythological scary creatures we have a book about something much more scary: the Armenian genocide during World War 1.

I’m rather embarrassed to say that the things I knew about the Armenian genocide and Anatolia before reading this book wouldn’t even have filled up a post-it note.

Things I didn’t know:

Where Anatolia was
What happened during the Armenian Genocide and how many people died (estimate is between 1 and 1.5 million)
What an Alevi Kurd is (or that there was such a thing)

Dance of the Banished follows the story of two engaged Anatolian teenagers who are separated by war: Ali is in Canada to work and gets sent to an internment camp in northern Ontario. Tired of waiting for contact from Ali, Zeynep leaves her village and is a witness and a recorder (through the journal she is writing) of the Armenian Genocide. Throughout the book they are writing to each other without knowing if they will ever get to see one another again.

This book is for ages 12 and up so there isn’t anyone at home I would be reading it to just yet. However, I am looking forward to reading and discussing this with my daughters when they are older. Zeynep is such a strong and smart girl that hearing about the genocide through her words and how she is trying to help those around her is both fascinating and heart breaking. I enjoyed her feistiness and her views on religion as she lived with the Christian missionaries in a world that seemed set to pit Christians vs Muslims and didn’t know how to categorize the Alevi Kurds. (To be honest, neither did/do I. The only way I can really think to describe them is that if the Muslim world has its own branch of tree-hugging pagans they would be it but that – of course – is an oversimplification.)

Warning: you will most likely cry reading this book. A lot of hard (but important) questions are going to need to be answered if you are reading this book with a child/teen. I’m glad I have years to think of an answer even though if the question is “why do people suck so bad?” I’m not sure I will ever have an answer for that.

As much as I enjoy fantasy YA literature I also feel it is important for children to read books about strong characters that are based in the here and now (or in history). I find that a lot of fantasy books geared towards young adults have an underlying theme of: being a human sucks because you grow old and die, life is much better when you are a beautiful immortal (vampire, fairy, werewolf etc) who won’t age and who can solve problems through magic or some other inhuman ability. Those books can be fun but the message they send isn’t always that helpful (writes the woman who can pretty much quote Harry Potter word for word). Dance of the Banished helps to fill the void for true-to-life stories that I think is currently missing in the world of YA literature.

(This review is copy and pasted from by book blog: http://www.roughingitinthebooks.ca/?p...)

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic!

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A historical fiction that covers some of the less known aspects of the World War I era: (1) Turkey or the Ottoman Empire, (2) Alevi Kurds (a very old and very tolerant religion) as distinct from Turks and Armenians, (3) the internment of people from countries at war with Canada. While many Americans are familiar with the concentration of Japanese immigrants and even Japanese-American citizens during World War II, fewer of us may know about similar “precautions” being taken with people from Anatolia, Turkey decades earlier.

To take a step back, though, in the novel’s plot, the particular young man, an Alevi Kurd, has left his sweetheart Zeynep behind to travel to Canada where he hopes to work hard at the foundry job he was fortunate to get and earn money for her to travel to join him, when he is rounded up as a prisoner of Canada and shipped way up north. There, he fights powerful cold and often deprivation as he attempts to adjust to a life being punished for an accident of birth at a time of war between his country and the one he is trying to adopt.

More pages deal, though, with Zeynep’s work in the city when she hitches a ride with Christian missionaries. There, she has a first row seat to the chaos of Turkey’s involvement in the war, drafting of soldiers, and genocide of Armenians, the Christian group that becomes a target for prejudice and whose members are killed in masses or marched to death as scapegoats for the difficulties of the country and its government, even the frustrations of the people. There, she learns to work in a hospital and eventually how to help the oppressed while trying to stay alive. She writes to her distant beloved, journaling her own horrific experiences of this nearly impossible period of history in her country—and many others.

These types of stories, even when beautifully executed as this one is, can really be such a hard sell with high school students. For those who will take their fiction with a heavy dose of history, recommend this one for the World War that gets less exposure and a genocide that predates the term.

[Ann Valdez · Rating 3 out of 5]

DANCE OF THE BANISHED is historical fiction which relates a sparsely taught history of Anatolia in the era of World War I. At his mother’s urging, Ali leaves his fiancée Zeynap to escape the war and the Turkish government and to go to Canada. He tells Zeynap he will send for her when he has enough money, but she has seen what happens in other couples and says she will not wait. Thus, they begin their journaling to each other – even though the other never receives it.
Ali works in Canada and saves money, but all his savings is thrown out with the garbage and since Canada has joined Britain in the fight, suspicions are aroused about Ali and he is placed in an internment camp and provides work much like a slave laborer.
Meanwhile Zeynap chooses to leave her home and make her way to the city, hoping to eventually get passage to Canada to join her love. Zeynap relates the genocide of the Armenians realizing that when they finish with them, they will take out her group, the Alevi Kurds.
While following their lives journeys, the reader is given a history lesson of this time and places including a look at the immigration to Canada from this people group. Zeynap lives with Christian missionaries and her view of them is also shared.
This is a book which may be read by middle school students through adult. It definitely got better the further along I read. Even though I did not care for the beginning, I was truly engaged by the ending.
I received this ebook freely through Net Galley and this is my honest review.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the core, this is a love story about two enslaved peopled by different countries as victims of war. I always love reading stories about history, especially war. This book is an excellent book because it talks about what happened during WWI with some countries that you might not have learned were involved. I never knew the Ottoman Empire sided with Germany or that Canada sided with Russia. The map on the inside flap shows how far some of these people were forced to travel and how dangerous it was to live where they did, considering they were literally in the middle of the war between two countries. The pictures on the back flap show how far Ali and other people from Anatolia were forced to travel by train to the internment camp. The pictures demonstrate the lack of supplies for an internment camp in such a cold climate.

[Mary-Esther Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sympathetic depiction of all victims of war.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written historical fiction which spotlights little known parts of history during World War 1. The Armenian genocide is again part of the historical story as seen through Zeynep's eyes. We also learned how 40 000 Armenians were rescued by the Alevi Kurds of the Dersim Mountains. Ali has come to Canada for freedom and to earn money. Instead he is sent to an internment camp in Kapuskasing, Ontario where he is used as slave labour to cut trees and build. Both Zeynep and Ali are witnesses to crimes. Zeynep is encouraged to tell her story for the world to know. "What we forget we are bound to repeat"

Highly recommend this book for Grades 6 and up.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

For full review please go to: 5girlsbookreviews.blogspot.com, Twitter @camartinez and Facebook "5 Girls Book Reviews"

REVIEW BY: Michaela, age 11 years, 5 months

MAY CONTAIN SPOILER:

This was a really good book! It is like a little history lesson, but a fun and exciting one.

This book is thrilling with excitement and sadness. My favorite part is at the very end when they get married because they went through so much and they finally made it to each other's loving arms, it reminds me of my mom and dad.

[Lis - The Indigo Quill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on a true story, and covers the not well known aspects of WWI. The stories this book involved were from Turkey, Armenia, Russia, and the Alevi Kurds. This has romance notes in it, but it’s not over the top. It really takes the reader into the heart, mind, and soul of the characters.

I loved this book because it covered a point in history that isn’t commonly discussed. It’s a very emotional and fascinating story, but the characters were hard to identify with until very late in the story.

[Paula Hollohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A part of Canadian and Armenian history that I know nothing about. Dance of the Banished is a great dual journal/dual character way to present both situations from a personal point of view. I cared about the characters and got a hint about this dark time for a people that I didn't even know about - the Alevi Kurds of Anatolia. It can be read and related to current events in a middle school setting.

[Chapitre1 (Vero)]

I have learned so much by reading this book, both about the Armenian genocide of 1.5 million people in Turkey during the First World War (which is still officially being denied by the Turkish government), and about internment camps in our own country of Canada during that same war. The young couple in this book both endure hardship while being separated and dreaming of a new life in Canada. Very moving and also shocking.

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enter the world of Alevi Kurds during WWI through the journals of Zeynep and Ali. They are young and betrothed yet Ali is sent to Canada by his mother to escape the coming war. Zeynep stays behind and becomes a witness to the genocide of her people. Their combined voices cry out that our freedoms are not as secure as we think, that atrocities can happen even in Canada.

[Golden Secondary School · Rating 3 out of 5]

This award winning book is perfect for fans of historical or political fiction. It is a fairly easy read and has a romantic undertone that keeps the story moving forward.

Recommended for history buffs or those looking for an easy-to-read, interesting story.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very powerful novel though not quite sure it is a book for teens - very readable and fascinating history!

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and quick fictional history of the Armenian genocide of WWI and the Canadian internment camp.

The author uses two star-crossed lovers in order to detail the affects of the war in Anatolia (Turkey) and Ontario, Canada, alluding to the great effects of war in many ways.

While the book is educational, it is far too succinct and reads quite monotonously. I am giving it a higher rating because it is representative of real people, their real experiences, and this should not be discounted; especially because the cultural group highlighted in this book (Alevi Kurds) were a severely persecuted minority and many stories already forgotten.

[Jahnavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautiful story that deals with history, war and lives of people in Ottoman Empire during war with Canada. The story is told from point of views of both the main characters who are seperated by half a world but still connected by their love for each other.

I loved this story very much. Especially I liked getting to know more about the culture of Alevi Kurds. I will recommend this to anyone who wants a good historical fiction to read <33