The Invisible Girls: A Memoir

Written by Sarah Thebarge

Narrated by Sarah Thebarge

Twenty-seven-year-old Sarah Thebarge had it all - a loving boyfriend, an Ivy League degree, and a successful career - when her life was derailed by an unthinkable diagnosis: aggressive breast cancer. After surviving the grueling treatments - though just barely - Sarah moved to Portland, Oregon to start over. There, a chance encounter with an exhausted African mother and her daughters transformed her life again.

A Somali refugee whose husband had left her, Hadhi was struggling to raise five young daughters, half a world a way from her war-torn homeland. Alone in a strange country, Hadhi and the girls were on the brink of starvation in their own home, "invisible" to their neighbors and to the world. As Sarah helped Hadhi and the girls navigate American life, her outreach to the family became a source of courage and a lifeline for herself.

Poignant, at times shattering, Sarah Thebarge's riveting memoir invites readers to engage in her story of finding connection, love, and redemption in the most unexpected places.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Sep 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9781478977124

Reviews for The Invisible Girls

[benuathanasia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sarah's personal memoir portions were boring and "woe is me" - emotional masturbation. Totally not my thing. Learning about the Somali family was wonderful though. I recommend this book *just* for them.

[christinegrabowski · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed listening to this book and Sarah's story. The chapters went back and forth between the past (her breast cancer story) and the present (her growing relationships with a Somalian family - the Invisible Girls). Although it was sad at times, it was inspiring too and I learned more about how difficult a cancer diagnosis and treatment can be as well as learned about the challenges immigrants face.

[janarose1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Decimated by breast cancer, Sarah has decided to start her life over, in Portland Oregon. While riding the bus, she encounters a young mother and her daughters. Hadhi, a Somali refugee, and her five young girls are barely keeping her family afloat. She speaks very little English, is confused by seemingly simple things, i.e. how to use the stove. Sarah steps up and begins helping the family, showing them basic American survival skills.Overall, I thought this book was both heartbreaking and uplifting. It was hard to read about the decimation of her young body and the toll that cancer took on her emotional and physical state. Despite her struggles, she essentially adopted a refugee family, giving everything she had to help them survive. Overall, I thought the book was well written and well paced.

[bmetzler-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This literally is one of the most emotional and beautiful books I have ever read.

[gaillamontagne · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ture story of a very brave young woman in her 20's finds new purpose in her life after her devestating diagnosis of breast cancer demanding a double mastecetomy . She becomes a suragate social worker for a single Samali refugee who was abandoned by her husband. Takes place in Portland , Oregon.

[kerrymarsh · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Its interesting how a sudden change in fortune or as in this case health can set you on a journey that alters the quintessential aspects of a person's soul and belief system. Sarah Thebarge's account of being diagnosed with cancer and her chance encounter with a somali family is one of those stories. This beautifully crafted memoir is a journey that cuts you to the bone as you share the challenges that both she and the somali family faces. An interesting comparison between seemingly opposite lives and lifestyles.

[homeschoolmimzi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful true story of a young breast cancer survivor who encounters a Somalian family living a below-poverty line existence, and then, together with the help of some friends, reaches out and helps them with some basic needs and forms a familial bond with these "invisible girls' and their mother. Thebarge's writing is beautiful and moving, even though she jumps back and forth in time in each chapter. Inspiring story of struggle, healing and love.
Highly recommend.

[twileteyes · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sarah Thebarge changed the lives of a refugee family of Somali Imigrants. She is also a cancer survivor. Both of these stories make for a good book, combined they ought to make a great book. But The Invisible Girls seems like it was taken straight from Sarah's blog, which I can't find online but she mentions it at least twice in the book. There is a little bit of jumping around within the two timelines, separate of the intentional back-and-forth story-telling. Other reviews have described it as fragmented & disconnected, and I would have to agree with them.

The ending seemed a little rushed and cut-off, she mentions in the last chapter that the Somali family end up being put in her lap within a few months, but there are no added details-either she's trying to set this up for a sequel, or it just wasn't important enough for her to elaborate for her readers' benefit. The epilogue didn't tie up either of the storylines-it was more of a forced example of evangelism; it was not written in a way that made me feel the emotional connection the author or her friend should have had with the streetwalker they spoke with.

If there is a sequel I will probably read it, even if it also feels like a cut-and-paste job from a someone's blog.

[christineellei · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Having survived her battle with breast cancer Sarah Thebarge felt she needed a change in her life. Leaving behind her pre-cancer life she moves to Portland to start over. A chance encounter on a bus changes her life in more ways than she ever could have imagined.
Hadhi, a Somali refugee trying to raise her five daughters alone, in a country where everything is so unfamiliar she is not even aware of how to turn on her oven, happens to be on the same bus that fateful afternoon. Hadhi’s youngest daughter engages Sarah in a little game and Sarah inadvertently places the little girl’s toy in her pocket. Having exchanged telephone numbers Sarah feels compelled to return the toy to the young child. Thus begins an important friendship for both women.

This book is a very poignant memoir of two women fighting two different kinds of battles to survive what life has handed them. I found Sarah’s honestly about her fight with breast cancer moving and, the courage she had to help a family much less fortunate than herself was inspiring. Although I felt compassion for Hadhi and her situation (with much personal disappointment in myself) I found myself becoming almost angry with her at some points of the story because it seemed as if it was easier to put Sarah in the difficult situation of solving some of her problems for her rather than making an honest effort to try and manage on her own. It gave me much to ponder even after I closed the cover on the book.

A very personal insight into both overcoming breast cancer and the plight of refugees (women and children) I commend Ms. Thebarge strength, patience and commitment to making a difference.