Author: Alan Gratz
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date of Publication: July 25, 2017
Awards: 2018 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers, 2018 National Jewish Book Award Winner for Young Adults, YALSA 2018 Best Fiction for Young Adults
Age Range: 9 – 14
Grade Level: 3 – 8
Resources:
It is 1939, and Joseph is a Jewish boy living in Nazi Germany.
It is 1994, and Isabel is a Cuban girl whose country is plagued by civil unrest.
It is 2015, and Mahmoud is a Syrian boy living in a war-torn country.
Alan Gratz takes on three heart wrenching narratives in his novel Refugee. These are three young people who must face dangerous and terrifying situations in the pursuit of refuge, all along hanging onto faint glimmers of hope. Combining the three different narratives into one whole creates a unique experience for the reader, emphasizing how history truly does repeat itself. While this book will enthrall and tug at the heartstrings of all ages, the characters in this book are all in their early years of adolescence and readers around the same age will feel the strongest empathy putting themselves in the shoes of these young people not unlike them. Refugee is so important because it chronicles events that most grown adults might not even know about, making it even more important that our students and children not grow up ignorant of the refugee’s plight.
**Gratz does an excellent job of providing the historical basis for the stories in his author’s note. He also gives suggestions on how to help.
Ms. Do's Children's Literature Resource File 