Refugee

Ruta Sepetys said that "Some novels are engaging and some novels are important. Refugee is both" and I totally have to agree. Readers quickly become invested in the lives of the three young main characters. We understand why their families feel like they have to leave and we really, really want them to get to safety. At the beginning, the journeys seem possible, maybe even easy, but the plans that each family makes don't always work out. It's amazing how the three stories interconnect at end. A moving, relevant book to help middle and high school kids understand why refugees seek new lives and what they must overcome to do it.

Oh wow, is this ever an important book for kids. Three refugees' stories are told in alternating, short, cliffhanging chapters: Josef, whose Jewish family was ordered to leave Germany in 1939; Isabel with her family and her neighbors fleeing Cuba in a makeshift boat in 1994; and Mahmoud and his family fleeing Syria over land and over sea in 2015. Mr. Gratz somehow finds a way to bring their stories together in the end. Nothing is sugar-coated here. This is an excellent book for readers 5th grade and up who may want to know more about refugees. The book does an excellent job of showing why desperate families may have no choice but a desperate escape, and that the refugees simply want to live, not to take anything away from anyone. The show more stories are based on real events, and the book includes maps and resources for kids who want to help. I am so thrilled this is a Colorado Children's Book Award nominee for 2020. show less

Refugee by Alan Gratz actually tells three stories, each about a family of refugees fleeing to what they hope will be better lives. Each exodus actually occurred in the twentieth century and one, the flight from Syria, continues even today.
I found this book on a shelf of best selling fiction and did not realize that it was a YA book. The four star rating is based on that. Were it to have been a novel aimed at adults, it would have lacked the depth and verve needed to be a good novel for adults and I would've given it three stars, at best.
There are currently 65 million refugees around the world, most of them unwelcome wherever they flee and all of them at the mercy of governments which, frankly, do not really know what to do about them. show more The current vituperative attitude toward them found in America is actually nothing new, the Jews fleeing Nazi Germany did not find open arms either (as the book notes), but is an especially ungenerous attitude given America's beliefs about itself and its own history.
If viewed with empathy and compassion rather than suspicion and animosity, refugees make good objects for the love Christians (often falsely) purport to believe in. Consider for a moment: what would make YOU abandon your home, your friends, most or all of your possessions and even parts of your family seeking a life in a place where YOU are unwanted, unknown, do not know the language, have no economic prospects, have few or no relatives or contacts and no real plan for your future? Life could have only become entirely without hope, entirely intolerable and enormously threatened day by day and hour by hour for you to even think of picking up your roots and fleeing.
This book does not dwell on that and for that I was disappointed. But it does describe the travails of the journeys families faced with that situation must endure as they hope for a better form of existence.
What makes this a YA book, I think, is that its stories center around children as their central character and the book resolves as would be expected in a book aimed at young readers.
It tells of one Jewish family's flight from Nazi's at the onset of WW II, another family's effort to escape their home in Cuba is face of Castro's oppression and the economic unsustainability of the country felt most vividly in the lack of food, and another family's flight from the indiscriminate mass murder through bombs and missiles of the crazed maniac Bashar Al-Assad in Syria.
It is an engaging read, even for an adult, and describes a problem likely to be with and even worsen for the world in the decades ahead.It may not inspire the empathy and compassion of the hard core anti-immigrant folks, but it should. show less

This is a powerful book. 4 voices of refugees in different times and places weaving together over both common and unique experiences. Realistically depicts fleeing for your lives, so don't think for a moment that it won't pack an emotional punch. The short story aspect is compelling, the scenarios are harrowing, and the characters are appealing in their everyday humanity. Deeply moving, but not without hope. If you are looking for a book to experience empathy on the plight of refugees, this one can't be oversold.

This is a really well done piece of fiction designed for young people about being a refugee. I found this book in the children's section but it is good reading for any age. I actually think a child would have to be a pretty mature reader to handle this. The writing is basic enough but there are a few scenes that might be too intense for younger readers. It would certainly be helpful to read this with a teacher or a parent who could temper the reading experience and it would make for endless discussion in a classroom. It covers the flight stories of 3 different children and their families from 3 different episodes in history and draws connections between them. It offers an important lesson in both history and empathy and manages to do it show more with sensitivity and grace as well as being a good read. show less

This is a truly incredible book. I have been reading many refugee stories lately, and I loved how although this one was historical fiction, it painted a very realistic and historically accurate picture. It also forces readers to think about the refugee crisis by connecting past to present. The book talks about three different refugees and their experiences. The first is Josef who is Jewish and living Germany in 1939. Next is Isabel who is living in Cuba in 1994. Lastly Mahmoud is living in Syria in 2015. The book describes the push factors that force them to leave-all three taking off by boat to escape their countries. The book cycles through the three stories and the plot moves in parallel. For example, when Josef gets on the St. Louis show more bound for Cuba, Isabel gets on a boat bound for the US and in the next chapter Mahmoud boards a dinghy he hopes will take him to Greece. Similarly, all three have interactions with some sort of law enforcement individual at the same point in the novel. The book has some very sad experiences faced by each character. All of the characters experience devastating loss. Alan Gratz does a great job of developing truly unique characters, despite telling three separate stories. The most impressive part about the book is how the stories all tie together in the end. This tying together is what really calls the reader to action. Reading Josef's story, almost everyone (except for a few psychopaths) can acknowledge that the Nazis were on the wrong side of history and that the US should ave done more to help Jewish refugees, especially accepting passangers from the St. Louis. Knowing this, it makes one really look at the current situations of the refugee crisis in Europe and the so called "immigration crisis" at the Mexican border-of course also a true refugee crisis-and ask, how can I sit here and do nothing? show less

"Refugee" broke me heart and left me shattered. This book followed the journey of three children and their families, who left everything they knew and owned to flee war and bloodshed which was tearing their homes apart. Despite being decades and countries apart, sadly their stories were the same and I was totally invested in their journeys - I just had to keep reading!

These families faced so much heartache, so much loss and so much cruelty, simply because first world countries wouldn't welcome them with open arms, despite them facing incredible challenges and dangers to find safety and shelter. I was moved by their determination, resilience and courage, and ashamed at the cold, heartlessness of those who should know better.

Ironically, show more Josef's family was fleeing Nazi Germany to seek refuge in Cuba. Isabel and her family were escaping Castro's Cuba to find solace in America and Mahmoud's family was escaping Syria to find sanctuary in Germany. A vicious circle, repeated over the decades. However, I loved how the author wove these stories together at the end.

"Refugee" was a harsh, compelling read that would made a fabulous English novel. It would lead to in-depth discussions and, hopefully, develop an empathy to those so less fortunate than ourselves. A must read. show less