In 2014, ten-year-old Amera Ali was captured by ISIS along with her family and community during the Yezidi genocide. Armed only with scraps of paper hidden in her clothes and shoes, she wrote messages to her missing brother Ali—desperate that if he found them, he might find her.

Her cousin Suad Smo was also captured. While Amera wrote, Suad drew—channelling her grief, trauma, and resilience into art that would later become the visual heartbeat of this book.

Both girls survived. And now, through words and images, they share their story with the world.