Book Talk- "Refugee" by Alan Gratz

1.               Please include a detailed description of the text.

 The novel is broken into three different third person perspectives - Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud and the story follows in that order, and repeats. Each perspective is a few pages, then changes to the next perspective where the story last left off.

A)    Josef’s story is that of a Jewish boy in Nazi ran Germany beginning in 1938 and about his family’s journey to escaping to Cuba. As his family encounters new problems there and getting turned away in the United States, Josef is forced to return to war-torn Europe, specifically Nazi-invaded France.

B)    Isabel lives in Havana in 1994 but her family and neighbors are forced to leave Cuba overnight in a quickly crafted boat destined for Miami. They encounter many difficulties that include being pursued by the police, marooned, the boat flooding. They land in the Bahamas but are forced to turn around as her mother goes into labor on the boat. Isabel finally reaches Florida’s shores but not without sacrifice from her family.

C)    Mahmoud is from Aleppo Syria in 2015 but the war desolates his house forcing his family to relocate to Turkey. They are forced to leave everything behind and only granted temporary pass into Turkey, leaving them homeless. In order to make their voyage into Greece, Mahmoud’s family are smuggled on a raft where difficulties arise and are separated from each other. Upon making it to Germany, Mahmoud’s mother and him were taken in by Josef’s sister.

2.      Please explain why you chose this text. What was your rationale? For whom is this text appropriate? Please consider age, ability, and any other factor you find important. Why is it appropriate for this group of students?

I had chosen this text because it shows three different perspectives of kids of similar age and circumstances, but only different generations and cultures. It shows the gravity of taking care of those in need and it is not different from 1938 to present day. Compassion and empathy is vital for human survival and this is important to express to young adults. Anywhere from 8^th grade and up this text would be ideal because of the simple text but the heavy subject addressed.

3.      Please include some teaching ideas.

You can use this book for important discussions pertaining to the human condition and if this is a reoccurring issue with refugees, if we can help stop this pattern and if so, how? Another alternative would be to dissect the story into its components and teach about the plot, summary, theme, and character development being there are three different options to choose from in this one book and how they might compare to each other. A final option would be to make this into a research project that requires students to find other stories of refugees in the present day and perhaps bring in options for non-profits as we help raise funds/awareness to current events.

4.      Please consider some challenges to using this text. Administration, student, parent responses?

Possible challenges that may arise could be the difficulty with bringing different race and cultures into the classroom; there may be students and family members that oppose being inclusive and other problems that may accompany the sensitive topics of race, religion, and gender. I do not foresee this book being an issue with administration as it is important to shed light on current problems for students in a safe environment and this book is a good, first foot in the door for bringing up these discussions in class.