Refugee

Refugee
Alan Gratz
Scholastic, 2017 341 pages
Grades 5-8
Realistic Fiction/Adventure/Historical Fiction

Three compelling narrators tell separate accounts during different time periods of having to flee for their lives, being forced into becoming a refugee. The first narrator is Josef, who is a Jew escaping Nazi Germany. Josef's Dad was arrested during Kristallnacht and sent to Dachau. Now released, the family boards a ship full of Jews heading to the only country who agrees to accept them: Cuba. Father is mentally damaged from his time in the concentration camp and recently Bar Mitzvahed, Josef must become the man of the family. Once arriving in Cuba, the passengers are not allowed to depart and are forced to had back to Europe and certain death. In a separate account Isabel must sell her beloved trumpet in order to buy much needed gasoline for a cobbled-together boat in which both her family and a neighbors plan to escape Castro's Cuba in the early 1990's. Isabel's mother is very pregnant and the boat is not only far from seaworthy, but overcrowded. The two families must battle shark-infested waters in a rapidly sinking boat with no navigational equipment in order to reach Miami and freedom. Present day Mahmoud's family flees from their bombed out apartment in the capital city of Syria. They must find passage through unwelcoming countries in order to gain entrance to Germany, where they are hoping for asylum. The roads are filled with Syrian refugees, who are also seeking safety and refuge. Mahmoud's journey is riddled with danger, corruption, and disappointment. Will our three families reach safety? All is revealed by book's end.

Veteran author for young people, Gratz, pens novels for middle grade readers with more substance than the average fair. Refugee is no exception. Gritty, realistic, and timely, it demonstrates a global problem that although not new, is still with us and alerts young people to the true condition of those seeking asylum in the United States and other safe nations. Gratz offers historical facts, further explained in an author's note at the end of the book, and places them in a highly-readable fictionalized story. Each chapter is clearly labeled with the narrator's name and date to alleviate confusion and ends with a cliffhanger, encouraging readers to keep turning pages. Although members of each family eventually find safety, each story contains losses and deaths, including one of the main characters. There is hope, but not a complete happy ending, which makes the book both realistic and age appropriate. Each story is tied together in a small, yet interesting way. adding a cohesive element to the volume. Beyond an author's note at the end, separating the fact from fiction, Gratz also includes detailed maps of our hero's journeys and sources of where young people can go if they want to get involved with helping refugees. Timely, historic, and entertaining, this book is socially important and an exciting read.