Theme: refugee

A Song for Cambodia

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

The true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, Cambodian American musician and human rights activist, who as a young boy survived Khmer Rouge work camps by learning to play a musical instrument.

Descriptors: Biography, Cambodia, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Picture Book » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Alfredito Flies Home

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Alfredito and his family are getting ready to return to El Salvador for Christmas. It will be their first visit back since they left as refugees and made their way to California on foot. But this time they’re flying! Excitement mounts as Alfredito and his family soar over the Earth and finally arrive at their [...]

Descriptors: El Salvador, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , » Leave a comment

Under the Persimmon Tree

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Najmah, a young Afghan girl whose name means “star,” suddenly finds herself alone when her father and older brother are conscripted by the Taliban and her mother and newborn brother are killed in an air raid. An American woman, Elaine, whose Islamic name is Nusrat, is also on her own. She waits out the war [...]

Descriptors: Afghanistan, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Pakistan, Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , » 1 Comment

In Defiance of Hitler: The Secret Mission of Varian Fry

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

On August 4, 1940, an unassuming American journalist named Varian Fry made his way to Marseilles, France, carrying in his pockets the names of approximately two hundred artists and intellectuals – all enemies of the new Nazi regime. As a volunteer for the Emergency Rescue Committee, Fry’s mission was to help these refugees flee to [...]

Descriptors: Biography, France, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Portugal » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

Greater Than Angels

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

In 1940, Anna Hirsch and her family are captured by the Nazis and deported to a refugee camp in the south of France. The children held in the camp are sent to Le Chambon, a tiny village whose citizens have agreed to care for deported children. There, in the face of escalating dominance and threats [...]

Descriptors: France, Germany, Historical Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood

By Rebecca Ballenger | Published: October 29, 2008

In this groundbreaking memoir set in Ramallah during the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Ibtisam Barakat captures what it is like to be a child whose world is shattered by war. With candor and courage, she stitches together memories of her childhood: fear and confusion as bombs explode near her home and she is [...]

Descriptors: Biography, Israel, Palestine, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , » 2 Comments

Ziba Came on a Boat

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: July 2, 2007

Ziba came on a boat. Sitting in the crowded hull, with her mother’s arms around her, Ziba remembers all that she has left behind. They hope to find peace and safety in a new land, but where will their journey end.

Descriptors: Afghanistan, Asia, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , » Comments closed

Along the Tracks

By Kathy G. Short | Published: March 14, 2007

When the train that he is on is bombed, Yankele, a young Polish refugee from the Nazi invasion, is separated from his mother and wanders along the tracks, braving hardship and danger, as he searches for his family.

Descriptors: Historical Fiction, Poland, Russia, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , » Comments closed

Year of No Rain

By Kathy G. Short | Published: March 14, 2007

In 1999, when rebel soldiers come to their village in southern Sudan, Stephen and his friends escape but hope to be able to return again.

Descriptors: Africa, Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Sudan » Other Themes: , , » 1 Comment

Making It Home: Real-Life Stories from Children Forced to Flee

By Kathy G. Short | Published: March 14, 2007

Children from around the world share their personal experiences with war and other forms of conflict that have shattered their homes and families, in a powerful volume that shows readers what it’s like to be a refugee.

Descriptors: Intermediate (ages 9-14), International, Nonfiction » Other Themes: , , , , , » Comments closed