Refugee by Alan Gratz follows the harrowing and often heartbreaking journeys of three refugee children. Josef is a young Jewish boy fleeing the concentration camps of the Holocaust. Isabel flees the riots of Cuba, braving the unforgiving waters between Cuba and Florida with her family. Mahmoud leaves the destruction of his home in Syria during the still ongoing Syrian civil war for asylum in Germany. Their stories weave together across generations and between families as the trauma of being a refugee connects them in inexplicable ways.
Maps at the end of the novel show each family’s journey. The final pages of this powerful book explain the historical true stories that the fictional families are based upon. Immediately following the historical note is a section titled “What You Can Do” that details programs helping refugees. Although the fictional character Mahmoud successfully fled the ongoing Syrian civil war with his family, they needed help to do so. Readers can help the real children fleeing the Syrian civil war by donating to UNICEF and Save the Children. Alan Gratz’s Refugee is doing important work to respect the refugees in our world history and to aid the refugees of today. Part of this is, as Mahmoud realized, making the effort to see the individuals who are refugees and witness their humanity and their needs. As a novel, it moves quickly, an easy read in terms of technicality but heavy on the heart. However, the trauma is acknowledged carefully and gently, positioning the book as a powerful but practical whole-class text.
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