Refugee by Alan Gratz (49)

Refugee - Alan Gratz

Kids, Ages 8-10
Refugee
By: Alan Gratz
Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom, Kyla Garcia, Assaf Cohen
Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
Release date: 08-01-17
Language: English
Editorial Reviews
A New York Times bestseller!
Editors Select, August 2017
This heart-wrencher of a tale chronicles three separate journeys of children experiencing what none should have to: fleeing a home that is no longer safe. We meet Josef, a Jewish boy leaving Germany in 1939 as he boards the ill-fated ocean liner St. Louis; Isabelle, who, along with her family, flees Cuba as a 1994 "rafter"; and Mahmoud, who departs Aleppo in 2015, bound for (and bringing us full circle) Germany. The stories, unfolding in alternating points of view, are benchmarked at the start of each chapter with a subhead: "xx days from home", demonstrating that from a kid's vantage point, "home", or lack of, is the only milestone that matters. The three accounts really took me to the heart of these historical moments in a way that news reports rarely do. —Emily, Audible Editor
Publisher's Summary
A tour de force from acclaimed author Alan Gratz (Prisoner B-3087), this timely and powerful novel tells the story of three different children seeking refuge.
Josef is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world....
Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America....
Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe....
All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers - from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end.
Alan Gratz (Prisoner B-3087, Projekt 1065) delivers an action-packed novel that tackles topics both timely and timeless: courage, survival, and the quest for home.