Books About Refugee Characters

Hello Everyone,

You may have heard about the terrible things that are happening in Afghanistan. These days, Afghan people have been taken away from their homes by the Taliban group, places have been bombed, people have been displaced, and killed with violence everywhere. Afghan people have been left with no home to return to and are refugees now. How cruel this world can be? We cannot do much but pray for Afghanistan. I hope that Afghanistan goes back to normal and that the Taliban stops doing terrible things. The United States is trying to do everything it can and there have been many updates on TV about how Afghanistan is doing and the answer is “not well. After something bad like this happens in a country, people are forced to run away and go to another country forever as a refugee. They resettled in countries like Sweden, The United Kingdom, The United States, or Canada, and sometimes there is no going back. I know a few Afghan people and I hope that their families are okay, and I keep Afghanistan in my prayers.

I wish that more Afghan refugees can come to America and have a fresh start. As of now, there are more than eight thousand Afghan refugees in the Fort McCoy Military Base of Wisconsin, who have nothing with them except for their backpack. That’s why I am volunteering for an organization to help the refugees. I am collecting clothes that I will be donating. It includes clothes, hygiene products, and stuff for them to use. I hope the Afghan people in the base camp stay safe and start a new life.

Fun Facts: 

There is an International Refugee Day that falls on June 20th to honor all refugees.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) helps refugees with resettlement.

Today I will be talking about a few books that feature refugee characters. I am sure these books will change your perspective about refugees.

When the Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson

Omar, a young refugee boy from Somalia, and his non-verbal little brother, Hassan has been in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya for many years now. Their father had died and their mother was somewhere. Luckily, they have their foster mother, Fatuma to look after them. The UNHCR helps them by giving them food but it runs out quickly. When Omar hears that the United Nations is sending people to America, Omar is impatient. He gets the opportunity to go to school and start his education which means he has to be away from his brother for hours and learn things he never knew. Initially, he is worried about leaving his brother and going to school but he finally decides to go to school. He meets new friends, learns a new language but has no luck on the way to America. Omar loses hope and has to look after Hassan. He makes new friends and learns about the struggle of life. He is hopeful to get an invitation from the UN to have an interview about his life and being granted asylum to go to another country. Omar looks after his brother and stays hopeful through his journey of being a refugee. What happens next? Will Omar be able to go to America? Will the camp finally become free from suffering? Read this graphic novel to find out!

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Rauf

Mrs. Khan’s class is just a normal third-grade class until Ahmet comes to their classroom. He is a Syrian refugee and can’t find his parents because of the war in Syria. He doesn’t talk much and doesn’t speak English well. Luckily Mrs. Hemsi is his translator and helper. Alexa and her friends want to know more about what happened to Ahmet and slowly become friends with him. After finding out what happened to Ahmet, they go on a trip to meet the queen to ask her if she can bring Ahmet’s parents back. Ahmet learns English, starts a fresh life, makes new friends, and goes on a journey to try to find his parents. There is a bully at school. What happens next? Read this book to find out.

Refugee by Alan Gratz

I had only read this book in fourth grade but want to read it again. This book is about three characters, Josef, a Jewish boy escaping the Nazis in 1930, Isabel, a Cuban girl escaping Castro’s regime in 1994, and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy leaving Syria in 2015 after all the conflict. These kids go on a scary journey, being separated from family, suffering, and even sometimes loss. I would highly recommend this book to ages 12 and up. But please be careful reading this book. It talks about scary and deadly things and has traumatizing content.

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

This story is based on a true story from Sudan during the war. It is about two children. A boy named Salva, who is separated from his family and is forced to move from one country to another as a refugee. Another character, Nya, is a girl who has to walk eight hours a day to get water for her family and cannot go to school because of this responsibility. Although Nya wasn’t a refugee, I learned that water is the purest and most important thing on earth. Many countries have a scarcity of water and people face different challenges related to it. Salva Dut moves to America after many years of going from one refugee camp to another camp. To this day Salva works with organizations to provide water pumps in Sudan. At the end of the book, Salva goes to Sudan where he meets Nya. She thanks him for the water pumps in her villages and for sponsoring girls’ education. 

Learn more about the journey of Salva and Nya by reading this book.