Middle-Grade Books for World Refugee Day

(1) 4-6 Translated by Elisa Amado. Illustrated by Alfonso Ruano. Argueta's bilingual collection gives voice to refugee children who emigrate from Central American countries to the United States in search of safety or better lives. The poems, written in the first person, present the candid perspective of the children's experiences; they include whimsical imagery but also scary threats. Delicate illustrations present both realistic portrayals and surreal depictions that complement the textual imagery.

Reviewer: Alicia K. Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2017

(2) 4-6 This heartbreaking and resonant story of twelve-year-old best friends Asha (who is wealthy and Indian) and Yesofu (who is poor and Black) takes place during the Indian expulsion period in 1972 Uganda, which was part of President Idi Amin's Africanization policy. Athaide probes questions of nationalism, poverty, and privilege in original and compelling ways, and explores Asha's recognition that some differences cannot be easily bridged. Reading list, timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) 4-6 In 1938, eleven-year-old Jewish girl Esther is the first of her siblings to emigrate from Poland to Cuba, joining her father, who went three years earlier. Her letters to her sister, kept in a notebook to be shared later, form the narrative of Esther's new life in Cuba. With the help of her skill as a clothing designer, Esther and Papa save money to bring the rest of the family over, as rumors build of the worsening situation for Jews in Europe. The story is in some ways refreshingly optimistic: both Papa and Esther adapt fairly easily to life first in rural Agramonte and then in Havana. Behar creates a welcome portrait of a warm, diverse community--one that supports the family members when they do face local antisemitism, and as a result creates an Anti-Nazi Society. But the novel doesn't paint an overly sunny picture--realistically, adjustment isn't as easy for other members of Esther's family when they arrive (or, in one case, choose not to come). An author's note cites connections to Behar's (Lucky Broken Girl, rev. 7/17) family history and to Karen Hesse's Letters from Rifka (1992).

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(1) 4-6 In this mostly wordless historical-fiction graphic novel, Marisol lives with her parents in Habana (according to captions using the Spanish spelling), Cuba. Marisol, who loves her island's culture and collecting native flowers, lives a happy and charmed life. Then Fidel Castro comes to power, and everything changes. His regime makes the family feel unsafe, and Marisol's parents send her to New York City as part of Operation Peter Pan. The couple who takes her in does their best to welcome her, but she finds this new place strange, foreign, and colorless; the gray tones of the previously vibrant illustrations reflect Marisol's emotional state. The language barrier is challenging; school, which she used to like, is a constant source of frustration. Once she finds the school library and rekindles her love of botany, she's able to acclimate to her new life. As ­Marisol begins to feel joy again, color reappears. While there's no dialogue, the illustrations incorporate quite a bit of print into the characters' surroundings--Spanish in Cuba, English in the States--which, when coupled with the striking use of color, powerfully depict the disorienting experience of immigration in a way reminiscent of Shaun Tan's The Arrival (rev. 11/07). A recipe ("From Marisol's Kitchen"), reading list, more information about Operation Peter Pan, and an author's note are appended.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) 4-6 Twelve-year-old Cumba Fernandez carries an unlucky double-nine domino, la caja de muertos, or the "dead man's box," in his pocket as a reminder that "there are worse sources of bad luck than a little white tile." It's April 1961 in Santa Clara, Cuba, and the Cuban exiles fighting to overthrow Fidel Castro have failed in their mission, leaving families like Cumba's who sided with the former president Batista vulnerable to incarceration and violent subjugation. In order to avoid the threat of ­mandatory military training in Russia, Cumba's parents decide to send him to the United States. Cuevas's (The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez) skillful first-person present-tense narrative follows Cumba's experience of separation from his loved ones; his adjustment to life in Miami as a refugee; and ultimately his reunion with his family in the United States. Cuevas furthers this insider perspective with letters between Cumba and his little brother, Pepito. Incorporating elements from her father's experiences as a Cuban exile and child refugee, the author tells a larger, complicated story about the ways children navigate the geopolitical forces that compel families to make hard choices to ensure their survival.

Reviewer: Lettycia Terrones | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(3) 4-6 In this moving and timely sequel to Pura Belpré Honor–winning The Only Road, Jaime has made it into the U.S. and now faces the challenges of assimilating into a different culture. He longs to be with his family back in Guatemala, but with the help of his sketchbook and some unexpected friendships, he discovers a new definition of home. Reading list. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Katie Darrin

(3) 4-6 In this look at young lives shattered by the Iraq War, Iraqi refugees (most living in Jordan) ranging in age from eight to nineteen tell their stories of displacement. The narratives are clear-eyed and wrenching, underscoring the damage that war inflicts on its most innocent victims, the children. A cogent introduction and a map provide context for readers. Websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 4-6 Twelve-year-old narrator Ruby's world has been shattered by her father's death. She plans on remaining silent, and safe, in what she hopes is a temporary home in Vermont. But a new Syrian-refugee friend, a neighbor's looming eviction, and her mother's impending jail time force Ruby to find her voice. Ferruolo's debut novel skillfully addresses timely issues and offers a realistic portrait of small-town life.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) YA Adolescent Shif is taken from his home (country unnamed) to a desert prison, where he becomes "Refugee 87," doomed to certain death. He escapes, makes his way to the coast, and boards a boat for European shores. The story, inspired by true events, is unevenly paced yet gripping, vivid, and often poetic.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam

(2) 4-6 Burmese nine-year-old Subhi has always lived in the awful conditions of an Australian refugee camp. After Australian girl Jimmie sneaks into the camp, the two strike up a friendship, which provides some comfort as Subhi's situation deteriorates further. Fraillon's story is stark and urgent, with occasional glimmers of hope shining through in Subhi's lyrical narration. An afterword discusses the "all-too-true reality" behind the book.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2017

(3) 4-6 Congolese refugee Anaïs, newly arrived in Maine, sends letters to her grandmother; Oma insists that each letter include "one good thing about America." Anaïs's chatty letters (including common mistakes made by English-language learners) are full of news about her little brother and mother; their housing situation; and her classmates, including immigrants from other countries. A solid realistic story about contemporary immigration. Author's note. Websites.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) 4-6 Gratz's stirring novel humanizes the plight of refugees worldwide. Alternating chapters follow fictional child refugees from three different eras and nations--Josef in 1939 Germany, Isabel in 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud in 2015 Syria--whose stories ultimately, and surprisingly, converge. The narrative keeps readers on edge throughout these perilous, wrenching journeys but allows for poetic turns during quieter moments of reflection.

Reviewer: Russell Perry | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Fahmida Azim. "Water can trick us," believes eleven-year-old Samira, recounting how the river had swallowed her grandparents as her family fled persecution in Burma. As unregistered Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, mired in poverty, resented by locals, and under constant fear of deportation, Samira's family lives in the shadows. Selling snacks on the beach to support her loved ones, Samira feels the acute loss of home, family, and c­ommunity. As she befriends other girls like her, and they learn to surf in secret, her relationship to water changes from ­trepidation to exhilaration. When she decides to take part in a surfing competition, Samira must navigate stringent gender norms; happily, the girls band together to uplift one another. Interspersed with black-and-white sketches, the spare verse contrasts Samira's carefree past and her present-day reality. Exploring fear and freedom in equal measure, the author presents a complex picture by relating the historical oppression and political exclusion of the Rohingya with Samira's trauma and the challenges of resettlement. Samira's ability to be both "grateful and angry" gives her a multifaceted personality that draws readers' empathy. Samira's story (one of few that highlight the plight of the Rohingya refugee community; see also the 2019 picture book The Unexpected Friend) is a testament to how inner courage and the spirit of sisterhood can help brave any storm.

Reviewer: Sadaf Siddique | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Bob Hansman & Jovan Hansman. Fourteen poems in various styles by twelve poets, including Jane Yolen, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Paul Janeczko, reflect on human sea migration from the fifteenth century to the present day. The moving collection focuses on migrants' struggles during significant historical events (the Middle Passage; Mediterranean refugee crisis). Sea-related quotes throughout and appended notes provide additional context. Evocative and beautifully designed mixed-media illustrations mimic archival images.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Claudia Dávila. This sophisticated graphic memoir is an important and accessible testimony by Chikwanine, who at age five was kidnapped by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo and forced to be a child solider. The panels ably contrast Michel's happy early years, his horrific captivity, his escape, and the future time when his family members become political refugees. Excellent back matter includes action ideas. Websites.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Victoria Jamieson & Iman Geddy. This poignant graphic novel about growing up in a Kenyan refugee camp is based on co-author Mohamed's experiences as an orphaned Somali refugee. The narrative focuses primarily on Omar's fierce protection of Hassan, his younger brother who has limited verbal communication and who suffers occasional seizures. When the highly intelligent and compassionate Omar is encouraged by supportive adults to pursue his education, he does so reluctantly ("I felt torn in half. Should I go to school? Or should I stay with my family?"). Years of studying, turmoil over resettlement, and near-debilitating ennui follow. Omar and Hassan eventually find themselves as teenagers poised for resettlement to America, but not without the cost of abandoning the relationships they've developed at the camp. The brothers' difficult lives at the refugee camp are complexly conveyed through engaging past/present narration, artful repetition, and Jamieson's (Roller Girl, rev. 3/15) confident cartooning. Multi-paneled layouts are regularly layered over singular background spreads, creating visual depth, while text-rich captions and substantial dialogue drive the narrative. Tragedy is certainly present throughout the story, yet Mohamed and Jamieson's focus on deep familial love and education works to subvert many refugee stereotypes. Back matter includes photographs, an illuminating afterword, and two authors' notes (in Jamieson's, she shares her connection to Mohamed, along with her process for adapting his story into a graphic novel). Full-color art not seen.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(2) 4-6 Communists have recently taken power in post-WWII 1948 Czechoslovakia, and narrator Anna's father, an outspoken critic of the new regime and an active member of the pre-war democratic government, has left the country for his safety. Eleven-year-old Anna, her older sister Ruzena, and their mother flee their village of Roven. They travel through Prague and navigate the no-man's land along the German border, finally arriving in Regensburg, Austria, to find the girls' father and start a new life. Kiely's gripping novel, based on her mother's life story, features a steady voice, strong pacing, and rich historical details. Anna's journey takes place over just a few days, and her first-person narration pulls readers along through the tumult and intensity of emotions and events. The relationship between the sisters is particularly effective. Ruzena lords her experience and knowledge over her little sister but is herself feeling the pain of leaving home; over the course of the journey, Anna sees her sister more clearly and resents her less. Kiely skillfully provides the cultural details and historical context to help readers become fully immersed in the story, creating a strong sense of time and place ("Remember when the war was finally over and the Nazis were gone and the Russian soldiers drove their trucks and tanks down the main street?...I thought they were good guys").

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

(3) 4-6 Think series. Illustrated by Drew Shannon. This well-organized offering opens by looking back at human migration throughout history, including "the dark side of colonialism." Next, Lee takes a contemporary lens to the topic, considering the many reasons why people might uproot themselves. The readable narrative covers "legal versus illegal" immigration, refugee rights, anti-immigrant feelings, and the challenges and benefits for both immigrants and their new communities. Each section concludes with two or three profiles of individuals or families to highlight the diversity of immigrant and refugee experiences. Photographs and illustrations help break up the text; sidebars provide related information. A glossary and extensive annotated list of print, video, and online resources are appended. Index unseen.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Jo Weaver. This slim, profusely illustrated book (first published in the UK) introduces a small group of Middle Eastern refugees adrift at sea in a small broken-down boat. Rami, a young man clutching a violin case, plays his instrument and shares a legend about its creation. Weaver's haunting art in a monochromatic palette of greenish-black perfectly complements the sad yet sometimes hopeful tale.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) 4-6 This tough but important read follows thirteen-year-old Ghalib as his family flees civil war–ravaged Syria in hopes of reaching the (relative) safety of Europe. They experience heart-stopping danger at border crossings, grim refugee camps, separation, and finally a harrowing boat ride to Greece. Appended with an author's note, discussion guide, and a list of the deceased Syrian children for whom characters were named. Glos.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(2) 4-6 Photographs by Anna Bosch Miralpeix. "When home is lost and a new one not yet found, children are sent to the Waiting Place." In this powerful photo-essay, the Waiting Place is the Katsikas refugee camp in Greece, which Nayeri and ­Miralpeix visited in 2018. Katsikas is supposed to be a temporary home for refugees from Afghanistan and Iran, but as Nayeri describes in her poetic text, the camp is a "gated mouth" that children pass through and then drift while time slips away. "They forget things: first their sums, their street names, their best books. Then beloved faces, stories.”" Miralpeix's photographs effectively set the "field of shipping crates turned into homes" against a contrasting background of blue skies and misty mountains, highlighting Katsikas's harsh conditions. Nayeri personifies the Waiting Place as a beast hungry for more lives, and the strength of the volume is its focus on real children, including five-year-old Matin from Afghanistan, his friends Ahmad and Hashmat, and his ten-year-old sister Mobina and her friends. Both text and photos compassionately humanize young refugees who, despite coping with unimaginable trauma, have talents and dreams; readers will come away with a deeper understanding of the refugee crisis, which is addressed more fully in a lengthy afterword. A glossary and an author's note are appended.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(2) 4-6 Park presents a novelization of how Salva Dut, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, escaped his war-ravaged country and returned years later to found a company called Water for Sudan, Inc. A tandem narrative follows another Sudanese eleven-year-old, Nya, in 2008, as she trudges to and from a murky pond to collect water for her family. Park's spare text is riveting.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2011

(2) 4-6 In her second verse novel, Salazar (The Moon Within) draws on her own experience as an undocumented child living in East L.A. to tell the story of nine-year-old Betita and her family, immigrants from Mexico. Betita's father tells her that their people belong where they are, since the area is in fact their ancestral homeland of Aztlán--and that they, like cranes (used as a metaphor throughout), were always destined to return there. But when Papi is arrested by ICE and set to be deported to Mexico, "a place too dangerous / to call home," Betita learns that her family is "sin papeles," undocumented. Soon she and her mother, who is newly pregnant, are also detained, "locked into a / chain-link cage made for cranes." Betita's voice is sensitively rendered in Salazar's verse, whose varied placement on the page, along with delicate black-and-white line drawings evoking Betita's "picture poems," creates a sense of place, testimony to the experiences (including family separation and sexual abuse) of migrants and refugees detained at the border. Ultimately, despite the danger, Betita's family chooses voluntary departure; their bittersweet family reunion in Mexico leaves open the possibility that they, like the cranes, might someday return.

Reviewer: Anamaría Anderson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

(4) 4-6 In war-ravaged 2013 Aleppo, tween Nadia is separated from her family and must try to find them across the Turkish border. Over four harrowing days, she travels with two other young people and an old bookbinder with friends in all factions. The complex narrative with occasional flashbacks isn't always fully realistic, but it weaves in extensive information about the Arab Spring and Syria's political history. Author's note.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Afghan American Ariana, her recent-refugee cousin Laila, and her best friend Mariam (from Shooting Kabul) investigate acts of sabotage and vandalism on both Ariana's family's grocery store and on a new competing store opened by a rival family. The characters' deep love for their culture, described in rich, respectful detail by Senzai, is a distinguishing feature of the engaging California-set mystery. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(1) 4-6 Shulevitz was just four when the Nazis invaded Poland in September of 1939, forcing his family members to flee their homeland. Thus began nearly a decade of displacement, discrimination, and hunger, as the Jewish refugee family endured the horrors of war and a tenuous peace, moving to northern Russia, Turkestan, back to Poland, and then to Germany, before settling in Paris in 1947. Despite their often-illegal status, the boy's parents tried to scrape together a living, working any jobs they could find. Throughout the moves and various illnesses associated with subsistence living, young Uri was sustained by his mother's stories and his greatest pleasure and solace--his near-obsessive love of drawing. This memoir, Shulevitz's (Caldecott Medalist for The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship and three-time Honoree) first foray beyond the picture-book format, is heavily illustrated with the artist's lively and expressive grayscale renderings (and occasional black-and-white photographs), punctuating and illuminating some of the most poignant and emotional moments in the narrative. In a number of sections, he enhances the storytelling via a series of dramatic graphic panels. Though touching on many dark and serious topics, this story is totally focused on the fears, triumphs, and sensibilities of a child. It is truly a portrait of an artist as a young man thrust into a maelstrom of a world gone mad and relying on chance to decide his fate. This thoroughly engrossing memoir will sit comfortably on a shelf with Peter Sís's The Wall (rev. 9/07) and Allen Say's Drawing from Memory (rev. 9/11).

Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) 4-6 Eleven-year-old Kenan Trebinčević is growing up in Brčko, Bosnia, in 1992. He enjoys his life--home, friends at school, soccer--but as Muslims living in a divided Yugoslavia, he and his family are in danger. Serbs control the military and see Bosnian Muslims as rebels and traitors. Kenan's friends begin to taunt him at school. Then there is violence in the streets (including a horrifying scene in which his teacher holds a gun to Kenan's head); homes are burned; entire families are shot. With Serbs having wiped out the family's bank account, the Trebinčevićs are penniless; they have no running water; and food is scarce. Kenan doesn't understand: "But we're all Yugoslavians. How could our own people be hunting us like animals?" Kenan's family decides to escape from Bosnia, and a nerve-wracking odyssey ensues through dangerous checkpoints to Vienna and on to America. Scenes come alive through the first-person voice and abundant dialogue. This "Muslim-Jewish collaboration" between authors Trebinčević and Shapiro follows after their joint effort on The Bosnia List (2014), an adult memoir. This is a long, intricately detailed narrative that effectively weaves in enough historical background to make events understandable for young readers. (Per an appended author's note: "All the historical events are true. Some names, dates, and details have been condensed or changed to protect privacy, and for literary reasons.")

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Agata Nowicka. This collective biography includes one-page profiles and realistic digital portraits of influential first-generation Americans. The volume focuses mostly on contemporary men and women working in many fields: Google founder Sergey Brin from the former Soviet Union; Mazie Hirono, originally from Japan and the first Asian American woman in the Senate; and Somali refugee Halima Aden, a fashion model who wears a hijab. Reading list, websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(1) 4-6 When military fighting comes dangerously near their Syrian hometown, Jude and her mother leave their home and family for the U.S. Jude's voice throughout this verse novel is authentic, infused with thoughtfulness, humor, determination, and hope. Her adjustment period upon arrival in America offers a realistic portrait of the strength it takes to move to a new country, as well as of the complicated dynamics between first- and second-generation immigrants. Websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Autumn Allen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019