YA Books for World Refugee Day

(3) YA When a bomb destroys Tareq's home in Syria, killing most of his family, he flees to Turkey, and then across the Aegean Sea in a dingy to Greece. The harrowing, emotionally moving story is chock-full of sensory details, Arabic phrases, and realistic dialogue. Often-clever omniscient narration by "Destiny" itself presents readers with the perspectives of Syrian refugees and aid workers, as well as with the larger historical context of displacement.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam

(3) YA Teenage photographer Zara has a strained relationship with her mother, Nadja, a refugee from the Bosnian War. Zara doesn't understand her mother's trauma until a bombing at a Rhode Island farmer's market leaves Zara badly injured and traumatized and her mother in a coma. This deeply sad and affecting mother-daughter story shifts between Nadja's 1990s experiences and Zara's present-day path to healing and understanding. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(2) YA Immediately following WWII, sixteen-year-old German girl Katja and her sister Hilde become refugees and orphans after a Soviet soldier shoots their mother, blaming her for something Katja said. Katja and Hilde find a place to stay with a farming family, telling the family that the girls' mother is alive and will come to collect them soon. As Katja contends with, and attempts to process, more violence from the Soviet army (including the rape of a secondary character), perpetrated in the name of vengeance, she is dismayed to learn about the extent of the atrocities committed by her own country during the war. For example, she (perhaps willfully, as Hilde suggests) hadn't fully grasped the danger from the Nazis in sneaking to her beloved lessons at her Jewish music teacher's home. Barker sheds light on a rarely portrayed aspect of WWII's aftermath (see also Maria Kiely's Which Way Is Home?, reviewed on page 140). Her expressive writing helps bring readers into Katja's head ("My arms shook. I held them as high as I could, as if higher meant Yes, I surrender even more"), though Katja's naiveté and continued impulsivity, including vandalizing a Soviet officer's car, might have been more believable and sympathetic in a younger character. An author's note discusses the time period and Barker's reasons for writing about it: "to ask tough questions and face unsettling truths."

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

(1) YA Using a comics format, Brown creates a powerful history of the Syrian civil war, punctuated with the stories of many individual refugees. His illustrations have a sketchbook-like quality; faces drawn with minimal features are nonetheless expressive, lending the subjects a sort of universality. The varied panels perfectly control the pacing, thoughtfully guiding readers through difficult subject matter. Bib.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(2) YA This tale, first in a West African–inspired duology, is narrated in the third person, from two points of view. The first protagonist, Malik, is an Eshran refugee fleeing his war-torn homeland to begin a better life in the flourishing city of Ziran. When his sister Nadia is taken by an evil spirit, Malik makes a deal to kill Ziran's Princess Karina in exchange for Nadia. Karina, the second protagonist, believes that the way to save Ziran is to bring her mother, who was assassinated in a plot gone awry, back from the dead. Malik's and Karina's paths cross during Solstasia, a Zirani celebration. As the two fall in love--even as each must plot to kill the other--they question everything they know about themselves and their world. Brown includes disability representation (Malik has panic attacks and Karina has chronic migraines) as well as commentary about colonialism and prejudice. Tension builds slowly in much of the first half; impressive world-building, beautiful writing, and surprising plot twists make the faster-paced second half worth the wait. Perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi (Children of Blood and Bone, rev. 5/18), Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes), and Tochi Onyebuchi (Beasts Made of Night).

Reviewer: S. R. Toliver | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(4) YA Special Reports series. Capek offers insight into the plight of the Syrian people's struggle against the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad. The informative narrative discusses Assad's rise to power, the regime's brutality, and the dilemma of today's Syrian refugees. Photographs add interest and impact; many sidebars (with tiny type) extend the text. The timeliness of the topic means the volume will be quickly dated. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(2) YA Illustrated by Giovanni Rigano. Twelve-year-old Ebo and his older brother are among hundreds of migrants on a crowded boat to Europe when it capsizes. Chapters alternate between "now" (at sea) and "then" (Ebo's sojourn from Ghana by truck and on foot). Moments of resilience and generosity stand out, but perhaps most moving are close-up panels of distressed faces and haunting images of death. This poignant graphic novel humanizes an ongoing tragedy.

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

(2) YA Lillia's Jewish family plans to escape the Nazi threat in Warsaw for Shanghai, but when their circus is raided they're separated from Lillia's mother. Lillia starts out naive at fifteen, and DeWoskin sensitively shows her maturing and accepting the role of sole breadwinner, taking a job dancing at a club. Rich prose details 1940s Japanese-occupied Shanghai through the eyes of a first-person narrator making sense of an unfamiliar setting. Bib.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) YA For twelve-year-old Santiago, the future is a dangerous concept. Years of enduring physical abuse and emotional neglect at the hands of la malvada (his grandmother) and his tía following the sudden death of his mother have taught Santiago not to hope for better prospects. Yet Santiago's self-efficacy and resolve to survive ignite his courage to create a better life. Striking out on his own from Chihuahua, Mexico, Santiago meets María Dolores, a young mother who, along with her daughter Alegría, is on the way to el otro lado, the United States. Seizing the moment, Santiago decides to go, too. Diaz's third-person narration specifies the life-and-death stakes involved in their journey north--from the cramped, dusty bus ride through Mexico, to the border town where Santiago negotiates the clandestine passage that ultimately strands them in the Sonoran Desert, to their eventual capture by la migra, who threaten to sever their forged kinship. Diaz achieves what statistics about childhood refugees often don't, as the second half of the book illustrates the casual cruelties (metallic blankets, shoddy toothbrushes) and state-sanctioned violence of family separation. Personified through Santiago, the direct connections between immigrant detention and a country that treats imprisonment as an industry become undeniable. An author's note, resources, further reading, and a glossary are appended.

Reviewer: Lettycia Terrones | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(2) YA In this vivid memoir, Duany recounts his experience as a Lost Boy. After surviving an ambush, six-year-old Ger and his family flee their village in South Sudan, the first of many moves during the Second Sudanese Civil War. While his father and older brothers fight for the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), Ger feels pressured to care for his younger siblings, and struggles to define his own role. As instability ensues, and despite his brother's pleas to focus on school, Ger begins fighting other boys in refugee camps and ultimately becomes a child soldier, cleaning weapons and running errands for older SPLA soldiers. After a particularly violent clash, Ger seizes on an opportunity to escape the rising tensions around him and be moved to the United States, via Ethiopia, Kenya, and Germany, eventually becoming a model, an actor, and a peace activist. Duany incorporates words and customs of his native Nuer people, providing authenticity and specificity to the narrative. The matter-of-fact descriptions of loss and violence, coupled with Duany's unabashed honesty about the emotional impact of trauma (including descriptions of crying, nightmares, insomnia, and other effects of PTSD), make this a powerful account.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(2) YA Illustrated by Lars Horneman. Alternating between past and present, this spare, haunting graphic novel, translated from the Danish, follows child Amina from her war-torn Syrian village to the refugee boat she boards without her uncle (they could afford only one ticket). Amina's memories merge with the present as the boat capsizes and she drowns. Silhouettes and shadows add texture and tone to Horneman's clear line work, while large panels and cinematic angles control reading pace.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(3) YA Photographs by Wendy Ewald. This unique photo-essay uses the alphabet to present a snapshot of the immigrant experience. Photographer/editor Ewald collaborated with real teenage immigrants from a Philadelphia high school to choose a word for each letter; each entry includes a definition, translation in the teen's native language, a related personal anecdote, and a photographic portrait representing the word. The result is powerful and extremely relevant to young Americans' lives.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA Special Reports series. This excellent, extensively researched, and well-balanced series unpacks the details behind trending topics and current events. With extensive sidebars and peppered with well-captioned color photographs, each volume endeavors to look at every angle of the issue. Refugee covers the issue internationally, while DACA efficiently tackles the arguments for and against the program. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Special Reports titles: The Dreamers and DACA and The Refugee Crisis

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA After escaping war-torn Kosovo, Cris and his family must start over in Canada. He's the weird new kid until bossy Elle scoops him up; years later, when a therapist asks him to journal about his life, all Cris can write about is his and Elle's falling out. This confessional diary-style story sets the pain of coming of age against the lingering, often invisible impacts of war trauma

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(2) YA The son of a well-connected businessman, Tesfaye leads a life of privilege in 1990s Ethiopia. After his father is arrested, however, a terrified Tesfaye endures a harrowing journey (via human trafficker) to Canada. Tesfaye now faces new dangers alone. Based on a true story, Holler's tale provides a timely refugee narrative driven by its protagonist's intense emotional experience. Tesfaye's eye-opening perspective allows readers to follow him through terror and survival.

Reviewer: Anastasia M. Collins | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(1) YA Edited by Patrice Vecchione and Alyssa Raymond. This piercing poetry collection's sixty-four pieces (many previously published) in a variety of forms mourn loss, celebrate survival, and explore breaking and remaking self and home. The poets--immigrants and refugees themselves, or from immigrant households--tackle topics including racism, displacement, assimilation, and resilience. The contributors all offer timely, culturally specific frames for the universal struggle of growing into oneself. Appended with brief poet biographies. Ind.

Reviewer: Anastasia M. Collins | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019

(2) YA Hewing to a definition of refugees as "people who are forced to leave their country because they are being persecuted," Kuklin profiles five such young adults: Fraidoon/Fred from Afghanistan; Hei Blut/Nathan from Myanmar; Nyarout from South Sudan; Shireen from Iraq; and Dieudonné from Burundi. Their common bond is Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, "one of the most successful resettlement programs in the country," which sponsored or cared for each of these intrepid survivors. While each lengthy profile--told in the first person and illustrated with Kuklin's full-color photographs--covers the expanse of each subject's story, Kuklin chooses one or another stage of the journey to highlight, from the red tape Fraidoon encountered despite his work as a translator for the American forces fighting the Taliban, to the slavery endured by Shireen, a Yazidi, at the hands of ISIS. The circumstances of all five refugees were perilous and frightening; their tenacity and courage (and even humor) are salutary. An exemplary appendix of notes and resources broadens the impact of the individual accounts; the accounts themselves personalize the crisis and statistics. Index not seen.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(2) YA The Trump administration's 2017 repeal of DACA put photojournalist Kuklin and this work-in-progress in an awkward place: would she be exposing her nine interviewees, undocumented all, to possible arrest and deportation? The book was postponed, photographs of the subjects removed, and names replaced by first initials. Kuklin includes an array of circumstances that may broaden readers' understanding, conveying the difficult choices undocumented immigrants face at every step of their journeys. Reading list, timeline, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) YA Illustrated by Jackie Roche. Color by Mike Freiheit. Protagonist Amina narrates this graphic novel set during the Syrian Civil War: in 2013, when an Aleppo City explosion displaced her family; and in 2017, when her family arrived as refugees in Canada. Using a full range of color and distinct lines to showcase facial expressions and body language, the artists humanize characters' struggles and resolve. The family's suffering is heartbreaking, but their resourcefulness and strength offers hope.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2018

(2) YA During the 1975 fall of Saigon, twelve-year-old Hắng and her brother impersonate orphans to join Operation Babylift, but the refugee workers take only five-year-old Linh. Six years later, after a horrific boat trip (revealed in tense flashbacks), Hắng arrives in Texas to find her brother. Lại represents Hắng's English words phonetically, forcing the reader to become both listener and decipherer, an equally engaged but sometimes frustrated partner in her quest for "mai bờ-ró-đờ [my brother]."

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(3) YA In 2015 Belgium, Syrian refugee Ahmed hides in the wine cellar of the house where American Max and his family are staying for a year; eventually, Max and new Belgian friends hatch a scheme on Ahmed's behalf. In third-person narration that alternates between the two boys, Marsh delivers a suspenseful but hopeful story of young people helping each other in a very difficult situation.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) YA A sweeping geographic and historical overview of twentieth-century refugee crises, ranging from refugees of war to those displaced by climate change. Broad historical summaries are balanced with one-page stories from individual refugees, some of whom are well-known. Full-color photos, text boxes on related issues, and extensive back matter make this an enriching and comprehensive resource. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam

(2) YA Millie Vargas is a standout high school senior in Corpus Christi, Texas, whose family came to the United States from Guatemala as asylum seekers when she was a baby; she cares for her three younger siblings while her widowed mother works as a housekeeper. Millie is now a citizen, but her world is turned upside down when her mother's employer, who is running for U.S. Senate, outs Millie's previously undocumented status to the media while stating his case for supporting immigration. This revelation makes the Vargas family a target of xenophobic actions, with tragic results. Mickelson's novel explores the devastating effect that a seemingly inconsequential action, done for political gain, can have. Millie confronts situations that would be difficult for even the most resilient of adults to face, and she must decide whether to shield herself and her family from further attacks or accept heavy responsibility and public scrutiny as an advocate for immigrants who do not have the benefit of the protections she holds as a citizen. The reader is drawn into Millie's heartbreaking inner monologue as the story pointedly cultivates informed empathy for the diversity of immigrant experiences while emphasizing the importance of humility for those who stand as allies.

Reviewer: Nicholas A. Brown | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(1) YA In this imaginative graphic novel, thirteen-year-old Vietnamese American boy Tin and his Vietnamese-refugee seamstress mother, Hin, have always loved stories, with the two often reading library books aloud while enjoying time together. Nguyen (a comic artist also known as Trungles) delves into the world of Vietnamese fairy tales, including "Cinderella" and "The Little Mermaid" variants. Themes from these works--parent-child struggles, unrequited love, and the timeless quest to attain one's innermost desires, for example--are reflected in the versions of the illustrated retellings Tin reads and in his day-to-day life at home and school, including his secret crush on a male classmate. Nguyen's artistry radiates elegance on every page. Pastel shades of red, brown, and purple alternate to signify present, past, and imaginative plot segments. While some panels feature characters in pensive curiosity or profound melancholy, others burst with vibrancy, their exquisite portraits spanning an entire page or across multiple panels. Infused with emotional depth and integrity, this coming-of-age story broadens the range of Vietnamese American creative voices in books for young people.

Reviewer: Jerry Dear | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(2) YA Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. The first part of this vivid verse novel, set from September 2003 to March 2004, celebrates twelve-year-old Amira's life on her family farm in Darfur, Sudan. After a violent attack by the Sudanese militia, Amira and her family become refugees. Pinkney uses onomatopoeia, rhythm, and prismatic imagery to describe Amira's feelings. Evans's spare illustrations provide valuable visual context and a much-needed sense of buoyancy. Glos.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014

(2) YA In 1940s Vichy France, a remote mountain-plateau village known for sheltering refugees fleeing Nazi persecution houses a unique and innovative high school that draws students from all over France and beyond. Many of the students secretly work for the resistance, the maquis, which becomes much riskier after the arrival of Inspector Perdant from the national police, there to "identify evidence of illegal activities and unregistered Jews, foreigners, communists, and undesirables." Preus (Heart of a Samurai, rev. 9/10; Shadow on the Mountain, rev. 11/12) weaves the experiences of students Philippe (who smuggles refugees over the border into Switzerland), Celeste (who carries messages for the maquis), Jean-Paul (who runs a sophisticated document-forging operation), and others into a tale of danger and bravery, luck and wits, purpose and community, and even occasional humor (some pretty on-point Nazi jokes). Chapters alternate among characters, with Preus always circling back to Perdant's constant spying and dogged pursuit of arrests, which amps up the suspense (somewhat undermined, however, by how easily local farm boy Jules outwits him at every turn). An extensive epilogue informs readers about the real people upon whom the novel's characters are based; and about concentration camps, the Boy Scouts and their relationship to the maquis, and the actual high school L'Ecole Nouvelle Cévenole in the village of La Chambon. A bibliography and a pronunciation guide complete the book.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(2) YA This suspenseful memoir, set between 1992 and 1998, opens just before the author's northwestern Bosnian town of Bihać is changed by war. Serbians (who've had warning) evacuate overnight, schools and businesses abruptly close, and the town's remaining Muslim population is under siege by Serbian soldiers. Amidst this turmoil, a stray calico cat follows sixteen-year-old Amra home. Amra calls the stray Maci, the Bosnian word for cat, and the cat comforts and even, in a sense, protects Amra: for instance, because she chases Maci on the way home from school, Amra avoids a sniper attack. Amra comes to believe the cat is a guardian angel or benevolent spirit. She details her family's gradual decline, as they endure poverty and malnutrition under siege for three years, and finally her own move to the U.S. on an academic scholarship. Though she never shies away from difficult topics such as the threat of rape, feeling forgotten by the international community, or post-war corruption, she always brings the story back to Maci, a metaphor for love that "never dies" and "withstands distance and time." This fast-paced, touching memoir reminds readers of the significance of the Balkan ethnic war and places it into a larger conversation about the ways in which ethnically and religiously diverse societies are under threat from extremism and bigotry. An author's note and resource list encourage further engagement.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(3) YA In small-town Clarkson, Georgia, half of whose population is made up of refugees from war-torn nations such as Somalia and Sudan, a young woman organizes a free soccer program for young immigrants and determines to coach her teams to success. Alternating between detailing the on-pitch and off-pitch challenges, this absorbing book is as much about the American melting pot as it is about soccer.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(1) K-3 Seeking a better life for his family, a man travels to a strange, unfamiliar country. It's the triumph of this lavish, somber, wordless book that readers are kept in sympathetic step with the immigrant hero. Meticulously composed panels propel the action while larger pictures display majestic cityscapes. Subtle shifts from gray to brown to gold underline the story's themes.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2007

(2) YA With Abigail Pesta. At ten, after seeing her sister gunned down, Congolese refugee Uwiringiyimana's family began the long process of applying for asylum in the U.S. From there, Sandra recounts her American adolescence, trying to make sense of how she fits in as an African but not an African American. The politically and culturally complex picture of Africa that the author paints is welcome.

Reviewer: Sarah Hannah Gomez | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2017

(3) YA Nobel Peace Prize–winner Yousafzai re-frames her experience as one of displacement and retells stories of refugee girls from diverse geographical locations. Particularly poignant are stories of families whose members chose different migratory paths and the long-term consequences of those choices. Appended bios of the featured refugees and a photo insert add depth to the reading experience.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam