Brunswick School language teacher Mimi Melkonian poses with her new book "Nightingales" at J House in the Riverside section of Greenwich, Conn. Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019. Melkonian's new book in a compilation of Syrian refugees' stories of escape, hope and resilience in fleeing a country in the midst of a civil war. She herself is a migrant who arrived in the United States in 2001 and became a citizen years ago. Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media / Greenwich Time