In the tradition of the novels of Khaled Hosseini, the story of the fate of families in search of peace and freedom intertwined with the fate of a famous cartographer of the twelfth century. In the summer of 2011, when Noor's father dies, her mother decides it is time for them to leave New York and join family in Syria. Fortunately, Noor has a way for her father's spirit to stay forever: under a fig tree in their garden in Homs, she whispers their favorite story and hopes that it will reach the place where her father is buried. That story he repeats over and over is the story of Rawiya, a twelfth-century girl who, disguised as a boy, becomes a student of the most famous medieval cartographer, Al-Idrisi. Soon a war breaks out in Syria and Homs is bombed. Noor and her family are faced with a choice: stay in their home exposed to violence or flee across seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the same countries that were mapped out nine hundred years before by the cartographers Noor admires so much. amazes. On that journey, in the wonderful story of Ravia, Noor will find strength and courage, and will understand what home means. "That ancient, sometimes mystical connection between maps, people and knowledge is the backbone of Mapping Salt and Stars, a twin tale of travel and exile that moves between contemporary war-torn Syria and the caravanserai and annas of its vanished past." New York Tims Book Review “This imaginative yet realistic account of war-torn Syria is a must read.” Booklist