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ERoberts, May 19, 2007 (view all comments by ERoberts)
**WARNING: Spoilers throughout the following text**

?Forgotten Fire? is a fitting title for this novel. I mean, how many times do you hear about the Armenian genocide in comparison to its Jewish counterpart? Not many know that, much like the Jewish race, the Armenians were persecuted for their ?inferiority? and dubbed unfit by the Turks. Now, the term ?Forgotten Fire? comes from a saying Vahan Kenderian?s (the main character) father told him before he was whisked away by the Turkish government. He told him: ?Steel is made stronger by fire.? In this scenario, the Armenians are the steel and the fire is the horrible, violent, destructive genocide brought upon them. Therefore, the title ?Forgotten Fire? simply means the forgotten struggle of the Armenian race. And from Vahan?s vivid account (which was based on the author?s grandfather?s actual retelling of the genocide), one can see what kinds of ?fire? the Armenians had to withstand.

Throughout the novel, Vahan is forced to watch as his father is taken away by Turkish authorities, as his eldest brothers are shot to death in their backyard, as his sister commits suicide by drinking a vile of poison, and as his grandmother is killed by a rock-wielding Turkish official. At that point, it is just him, his brother Sisak, his mother, and his sister Oskina. He and Sisak are forced to leave Oskina and their mother, and just when Vahan believes they are safe, he and Sisak are separated and he later finds him near death on the street. Finding an abandoned home for shelter, he tries to nurse him back to health, but to no avail. All alone in the midst of a large-scale murder, Vahan goes from place to place: Begging on the streets, being a stable boy for Selim Bey, one of the most feared Turks of the time, living with a kind Armenian doctor and falling in love, running away from the doctor?s house after Seta (with whom he was in love with) dies, boarding a ship to Constantinople, where he would be free, and entering St. Gregory?s Orphanage.

Overall, I believe this story is worth a five-star rating. Maybe someday the Armenian genocide will be taught in schools so that their will be no need to call it ?Forgotten Fire.?

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ictoagun, April 19, 2007 (view all comments by ictoagun)
Hi, this book was a great book for just spending a little time a day to read. I was chose to read this book for a school project and i thought it was going to be a boring slow paced book because i'm more into the fantasy books. But i liked this book so much i actually read it in about 3 hours cause i could'nt put it down. I'm actually doing a project and have to turn it in today.....kinda why im looking for stuff about the author. Ha-ha well please take time to enjoy this book because i did and it was great.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780440229179

Author:

Bagdasarian, Adam

Publisher:

Laurel-Leaf Books

Location:

New York

Subject:

History

Subject:

Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General

Subject:

Historical - Military & Wars

Subject:

Social Situations - Violence

Subject:

Historical fiction

Subject:

Armenian massacres, 1915-1923

Subject:

Armenians

Subject:

Armenian massacres, 1915-19

Subject:

Pogroms

Subject:

Social Issues - Violence

Series Volume:

no. H-630.

Publication Date:

April 2002

Binding:

Mass Market Paperbound

Language:

English

Pages:

304

Dimensions:

7.31x4.09x.81 in. .32 lbs.

Age Level:

09-12

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