Refugee Week
| Book cover | Book title and author | Book introduction | Websites for more information |
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Lion: A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley and Larry Buttrose |
'Lion' is the heartbreaking and inspiring original true story of the lost little boy who found his way home 25 years later and is now a major film starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara. |
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The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri | Nuri is a beekeeper; his wife, Afra, an artist. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo - until the unthinkable happens. When all they care for is destroyed by war, they are forced to escape. But what Afra has seen is so terrible she has gone blind, and so they must embark on a perilous journey through Turkey and Greece towards an uncertain future in Britain. On the way, Nuri is sustained by the knowledge that waiting for them is Mustafa, his cousin and business partner, who has started an apiary and is teaching fellow refugees in Yorkshire to keep bees. As Nuri and Afra travel through a broken world, they must confront not only the pain of their own unspeakable loss, but dangers that would overwhelm the bravest of souls. |
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Travellers by Helon Habila |
Modern Europe is a melting pot of migrating souls: among them a Nigerian American couple on a prestigious arts fellowship, a transgender film student seeking the freedom of authenticity, a Libyan doctor who lost his wife and child in the waters of the Mediterranean, and a Somalian shopkeeper trying to save his young daughter from forced marriage. And, though the divide between the self-chosen exiles and those who are forced to leave home may feel solid, in reality such boundaries are tenuous, shifting, and frighteningly soluble. Moving from a Berlin nightclub to a Sicilian refugee camp to the London apartment of a Malawian poet, Helon Habila evokes a rich mosaic of migrant experiences. And through his characters' interconnecting fates, he traces the extraordinary pilgrimages we all might make in pursuit of home. |
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From a Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan |
Farouk's country has been torn apart by war. Lampy's heart has been laid waste by Chloe. John's past torments him as he nears his end. The refugee. The dreamer. The penitent. From war-torn Syria to small-town Ireland, three men, scarred by all they have loved and lost, are searching for some version of home. Each is drawn towards a powerful reckoning, one that will bring them together in the most unexpected of ways. |
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The Lightless Sky: my Journey to Safety as a Child Refugee by Gulwali Passarlay |
Gulwali Passarlay was sent away from Afghanistan at the age of 12, after his father was killed in a gun battle with the US army for hiding Taliban fighters. Smuggled into Iran, Gulwali began a 12 month odyssey across Europe, spending time in prisons, suffering hunger, cruelty, brutality, nearly drowning in a tiny boat on the Mediterranean. Somehow he survived, and made it to Britain, no longer an innocent child but still a boy of 12. Here in Britain he was fostered, sent to a good school, won a place at a top university, and was chosen to carry the Olympic torch in 2012. He wants to tell his story - to bring to life the plight of the thousands of men, women and children who risk their lives to leave behind the troubles of their homelands. |
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The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya | Clemantine Wamariya was six years old when her mother and father began to speak in whispers, when neighbours began to disappear, and when she heard the loud, ugly sounds her brother said were 'thunder'. In 1994, she and her fifteen-year-old sister, Claire, fled the Rwandan massacre and spent the next six years wandering through seven African countries, searching for safety - perpetually hungry, imprisoned and abused, enduring and escaping refugee camps, finding unexpected kindness, witnessing inhuman cruelty. They did not know whether their parents were dead or alive. When Clemantine was twelve, she and her sister were granted asylum in the United States, where she embarked on another journey - to excavate her past and, after years of being made to feel less than human, claim her individuality. | |
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We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World by Malala Yousafzai | Starting with her own story of displacement as an Internally Displaced Person, Malala will introduce readers to what it means to lose your home, your community, and the only world you've ever known. She will share the personal stories of some of the incredible girls she has met on her various journeys to refugee camps and the cities where refugee girls and their families have settled. The anecdotes will focus on different parts of each girl's story - from what it was like the day she left her home to what daily life is like in a refugee camp. | |
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Kind by Alison Green | With gorgeous pictures by a host of top illustrators, 'Kind' is a timely, inspiring picture book about the many ways children can be kind, from sharing their toys and games to making those from other countries feel welcome. | |
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What is a refugee? by Elise Gravel |
This is an accessible picture book that oh-so-simply and graphically introduces the term 'refugee' to curious young children to help them better understand the world in which they live. Who are refugees? Why are they called that word? Why do they need to leave their country? Why are they sometimes not welcome in their new country? In this relevant picture book for the youngest children, author-illustrator Elise Gravel explores what it means to be a refugee in bold, graphic illustrations and spare text. This is the perfect tool to introduce an important and timely topic to children. |
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The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Rauf |
There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it. He's nine years old (just like me), but he's very strange. He never talks and never smiles and doesn't like sweets - not even lemon sherbets, which are my favourite! But the truth is, Ahmet really isn't very strange at all. He's a refugee who's run away from a war. A real one. With bombs and fires and bullies that hurt people. And the more I find out about him, the more I want to be his friend. That's where my best friends Josie, Michael and Tom come in. Because you see, together we've come up with a plan. |