Refugee is a book by Alan Gratz, published by Scholastic Inc., and is a great read! Refugee is a book about three different kids traveling to different countries seeking refuge. It is full of adventure and overcoming hardship.
The first story is a about a Jewish boy and his family trying to escape Nazi Germany by boat. This story starts off when Nazis ransack the boy’s house and take his dad to a concentration camp. The boy helps his dad escape the Nazis by fleeing to Cuba with other Jews seeking refuge. During the boat ride the boy’s family realizes the concentration camp had made the dad demented. The story follows the family as they try to find a country that will take them. They face many challenges as they try to go to different countries. The boy and his family have to make some difficult choices along the way.
The second story is about a girl trying to escape Cuba with her mother, father, and her friend’s family. People had been rioting in Cuba so Fidel Castro said anybody could leave Cuba by boat and try to head to Florida. That was when these two families tried to make it out of Cuba once and for all. The girl’s friend’s dad had built a boat that they could all travel on to get to America. The girl’s mother was pregnant when they started to leave for Miami and was expecting to have the baby in a week She wanted to have her baby in America. They face many challenges at sea, including trouble with their boat, a near miss with a tanker, and other trouble. Finding America is more difficult that they thought.
The third story is about a boy from Syria in 2016 trying to escape and find refuge in Germany. The story starts with the boy coming home from school one day and his apartment is hit by a bomb. The boy and the rest of his family barely make it out alive before the building falls. The parents decide to leave that night with the boy and his brother on their long trip to Germany. The family drives to Greece to be taken by boat to Athens, were they find a bandit to help them cross the Mediterranean by dinghy. When they get to the dingy they notice that there are probably thirty refugees on a dingy meant to hold six people. The journey is very dangerous.
My favorite part about this book was how the main characters in each story worked with their families to overcome obstacles. Another thing I liked was that all of the main characters are linked in some way, such as a refugee from Cuba to America was part of the refugee section from Nazi Germany. The grandmother from 2016 Syria was in one part of the story about escaping Nazi Germany. I also liked that there is a lot of adventure and there are many suspenseful situations. That helped keep me interested in the book.
The main thing I did not like about the book is that the three different stories alternate every chapter. While they have a common theme, I found it harder to follow the stories when the book jumped between each story. I would rather it be three whole separate stories.
Overall, the book was interesting and I learned some things about geography and history. I would give this book four and a half stars. You can purchase this book at: Scholastic.com, Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble in stores and online.
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