The Other Side of the Sky

• Genre: Nonfiction; memoir
• Originally Published: 2005
• Reading Level/Interest: College/adult
• Structure/Length: Prologue, 20 chapters; approx. 249 pages; approx. 4 hours, 41 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: Farah Ahmedi tells the story of her life in Kabul to Tamim Ansary. She grew up with gunfire and bombs, and she almost dies after stepping on a landmine. The war sends her on a remarkable journey across the mountains and through refugee camps until she reaches America, proof that people can endure hardship and reach safety opportunity.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: War violence; injuries; and displacement

Tamim Ansary, Author

• Bio: Born in 1948 in Kabul, Afghanistan; Afghan-American author and public speaker; attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon; wrote an email in 2001 denouncing the Taliban but warning that a US deployment to the country could start a third world war; moderated the San Francisco Writers Workshop for over two decades
• Other Works: West of Kabul, East of New York (2003); The Widow’s Husband (2009); Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes (2009); Games Without Rules: The Often Interrupted History of Afghanistan (2012); The Invention of Yesterday: A 50,000-Year History of Human Culture, Conflict, and Connection (2019)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit: