By Kathy Short, Updated June 2024

Children’s and Adolescent Literature on Refugee Experiences

Displacement Due to Violence and War

PICTUREBOOKS
Alabed, Bana. (2021). My Name is Bana. Illus. Nez Riaz. Salaam Reads. BIO
Bana tells the story of escaping Aleppo and her activism in documenting the war on Twitter as a child.

Beckwith, Kathy (2005). Playing War. Ilus. Lea Lyon. Gardiner, ME: Tilbury House. RF
Friends like to play war on the playground until a refugee child tells of losing his family in a real war.

Hinojosa, Victor. (2020). A Journey Toward Hope. Illus. Susan Guevara. Six Foot Press. RF
The paths of four unaccompanied children from Central America through Mexico toward the U.S., and their reasons for their perilous journeys.

Kaadan, Nadine (2018). Tomorrow. London: Lantana. RF
A young boy in Syria is forced to stay inside due to the war around him.

Lord, Michelle (2008). A Song for Cambodia. Illus. Shino Arihara. New York: Lee & Low. Bio
True story of a young boy and musician who survives the Khmer Rouge killing fields and work camp.

Lujan, Jorge (2018). Seven Pablos. Illus. Chiara Carrer. Enchanted Lion. Trans. Spanish. RF
Seven vignettes of 7 young boys named Pablo living in different parts of the world.

Martinez, Glaudia G. (2022). Still Dreaming/Seguimos soñando. Illus. Magalena Mora. Lee & Low. HF
A family is forced to leave their home in the U.S. during the Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s.

Nguyen, Viet Thanh (2024). Simone. illus. Minnie Phan. Astra. RF
A young girl and her family flee a wildfire, recalling her mother’s flight from floods as climate refugees.

Smith, Icy (2010). Half Spoon of Rice. Illus. Sopaul Nhem. Manhattan Beach, CA: East West. HF
A boy separated from his family by the Khmer Rouge tries to survive when forced to work in the fields.

Soderguit, Alfredo (2021). The Capybaras. Greystone. Tran. Spanish (Venezuela) FAN
Fleeing hunters, capybaras arrive and are viewed with great suspicion by the hens, who gradually realize their own danger and need to care for each other.

Sager Weinstein, Jacob (2023). What Rose Brought. Illus. Eliza Wheeler. HarperCollins. HF
A Jewish girl and her family face Nazi oppression in Vienna that leads them to a perilous journey.

Vander Zee, Ruth (2008). Always with You. Illus. Ronald Himler. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. HF
A girl is orphaned when her village in Vietnam is bombed, comforted by her mother’s final words.

Youme (2010). Mali Under the Night Sky: A Lao Story of Home. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos. Bio
An artist carries her memories within her as she escapes the war in Laos and starts a new life.

CHAPTER BOOKS
Anderson, Natalie (2019). Let’s Go Swimming on Doomsday. New York: Putnam’s. YA, RF
Forced to become a child solider, a 16-year-old Somali refugee confronts his painful past.

Brown, Don (2013). The Great American Dust Bowl. Houghton Mifflin. NF GN 1930s
Nonfiction graphic novel on the sociological and geological causes of the catastrophic Dust Bowl.

Brown, Don (2018). The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees. Boston: HMH. NF
Nonfiction graphic novel on the harsh realities of living in, and trying to escape, a war zone in Syria.

Colfer, Eoin (2023). Global. Illus. Andrew Donkin & Giovanni Riogano. Sourcebook. GN RF
Two children, one in the Bay of Bengal and the other in Northern Canada, work to survive and protect their homes from encroaching damage due to climate change.

Dassu, A. M. (2021). Boy, Everywhere. Lee & Low. RF
Sami loves his ordinary life in Syria until one day his family is injured by bombs and must flee Damascus.

DeWoskian, Rachel (2019). Someday We Will Fly. Viking. YA, HF
A Jewish family is separated and flees Poland for Shanghai during WWII as conflict increases in Japanese-occupied China.

De Leon, Jennifer (2023). Borderless. Atheneum. YA, RF
Caught in gang violence, a teen an dher mother set off from Guatemala City to the U.S./Mexico Border.

Ellis, Deborah (2009). Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees. Toronto, ON: Groundwood. NF
Interviews with 20 Iraqi refugee children about how the U.S. War on Terror affected their lives.

Engle, Margarita (2023). Wings in the Wild. Atheneum. YA, RF
Soleida escapes to Costa Rica where her parents are arrested in Cuba for their art and becomes involves in protests about Cuban policies and environmental issues.

Gonzalez, Christina Diaz (2022). The Bluest Sky. Knopf. HF
A boy and his family must decide whether to remain in Cuba under a repressive government or risk everything for a chance at a new beginning.

Iftin, Abdi Nor. (2020). Call Me American: The Extraordinary True Story of a Young Somali Immigrant. New York: Delacorte. YA Memoir.
A well-to-do family loses everything in the Somalian civil war, struggling to survive violence, poverty and years of cycles of conflict. Finally the teen wins a lottery to come to the U.S., facing racism and challenges.

Laird, Elizabeth (1994). Kiss the Dust. New York: Puffin. HF
Tara and her Kurdish family must flee from Iraq into Iran as they face an uncertain future.

Letrie, Jose Jorge (2021). War. Illus. Andre Letria. FAN
A personification of war, where it comes from and how it destroys everything in its wake.

McCall, Guadalupe (2018). All the Stars Denied. Lee & Low. YA, HF
In 1931 during the Depression, the U.S. “repatriated” Latinx citizens, sending them back to Mexico. When Estrella organizes a protest, she is dumped over the border and must find her way back to her family.

McCormick, Patricia (2012). Never Fall Down. New York: HarperCollins. HF
True story of a boy in a Cambodian labor camp who is forced to kill and survives by playing an instrument.

Naidoo, Beverly (2004). Making It Home: Real-Life Stories from Children Forced to Flee. New York: Puffin. Global, NF
First-hand accounts of children forced to flee their war-torn homelands as refugees.

Perkins, Mitali (2010). Bamboo People. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. YA, RF
Two Burmese boys on opposite sides of a conflict, one a Karenni refugee and the other the son of a doctor, meet in the jungle and must learn to trust each other to survive.

Pinkney, Andrea (2014). The Red Pencil. Illus. Shane. Evans. New York: Little Brown. HF, NV
Amira’s Sudanese village is attacked and she flees to a refugee camp, expressing her dreams in drawings.

Sabic-El-Rayess, Amra (2020). The Cat I Never Named. New York: Bloomsbury. YA Memoir
Amra’s ordinary life changes at age 16 with the Serbian siege on her city in Bosnia in 1992. As a Muslim, she faces the cruel realities of violence and war, comforted by a stray cat.

Senzai, N. H. (2018). Escape from Aleppo. New York: Simon & Schuster. RF
Nadia flees snipers in Aleppo during the civil war in Syria to meet her father at the Turkish border.

Sepetys, Ruta (2016). Salt to the Sea. New York: Penguin. YA, HF
Refugees trying to escape at the end of WWII find themselves aboard a ship in danger of being torpedoed.

Trebincevic, Kenan. (2021). World In Between. Clarion. HF (fictionalized memoir)
Kenan’s happy childhood becomes a nightmare when his family is trapped in the Bosnian war in 1992.

Uwiringiyimana, Sandra (2017). How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child. New York: HarperCollins. Bio
A memoir of a Congolese teen who survived a massacre to come to the U.S. as an activist and artist.

Villalobos, Juan (2019). The Other Side: Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. YA, NF
Collection of firsthand narratives stories from teens forced to flee from Central America to the U.S.

Williams, Michael (2009). Now is the Time for Running. Boston: Little Brown. HF
Deo goes on the run with his brother after his village is attacked in Zimbabwe, trying to get to South Africa.

Journeys of Hardship, Loss, and Hope

PICTUREBOOKS
Addison, Amanda. (2020). Boundless Sky. London: Lantana. RF
A bird and a young girl from southern Africa travel across the world, meeting at the common end of their journeys in northern England. Parallel migration story.

Androse, Camille (2018). The Dress and the Girl. Illus. Julie Morstad. New York: Abrams. HF
A girl coming from Greece to the U.S. is separated from her favorite dress, which travels the world.

Argueta, Jorge (2016). Somos Como las Nubes/We are like the Clouds. Illus. Alfonso Ruano. Toronto: Groundwood. Poetry
Poems of the lives of children fleeing their homes in Central America to seek refuge in the U.S.

Bencastro, Mario. Un tren llamado Esperanza/A Train Called Hope. Illus. Robert Casilla. Pinata. RF
Contrasts a boy’s enjoyment of a toy train with his dangerous journey through Mexico on a crowded train.

Bruchac, Joseph (2002). Navajo Long Walk: The Tragic Story of a Proud People’s Forced March from Their Homeland. Illus. Shonto Begay. National Geographic. History. 1864-1868.
The forced march by the U.S. government of thousands of Navajos from their homelands to a desolate reservation, only to return 4 years later. Told from the perspective of Navajos.

Buitrago, Jairo (2015). Two White Rabbits. Illus. Rafael Yockteng. Toronto: Groundwood. RF
A young girl and her father travel by foot through Mexico toward the border with the U.S.

Bunting, Eve (2001). Gleam and Glow. Illus. Peter Sylvada. San Diego: Harcourt. HF
After his home is destroyed by the war in Bosnia, a boy finds hope in the survival of two goldfish.

Bunting, Eve (1996). Train to Somewhere. Illus. Ronald Himler. HF Late 1800s
Children in New York City are forced onto “orphan trains” in search of new homes in the “New West.”

Carmona, Hannah. (2021). Anita and the Dragons. Lantana. RF
Anita must face the dragons of fear that surround her as her family leaves the Dominican Republic.

Cristina, Henriqueta. (2017). Three Balls of Wool (Can Change the World). Illus. Yara Kono. New York: Enchanted Lion. HF. Translated from Portuguese.
A family flees a dictator in Portugal as political refugees to Communist Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, finding a way to resist the societal conformity reflected in everyone wearing sweaters in the same three colors.

Davies, Nicola (2018). The Day War Came. Illus. Rebecca Cobb. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. RF
A child forced to flee when war destroys her world and family is told there is no room in her new school.

De Arais, Patricia (2018). Marwan’s Journey. Illus. Laura Borras. Hong Kong: Miniedition. RF
A small sad boy joins a caravan of people to flee war in the Middle East, hoping one day to return.

Do, Anh & Suzanne (2012). The Little Refugee. Illus. Bruce Whatley. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Bio
Anh’s story of traveling to Australia as a child with his family as refugees from Vietnam.

Ferrada, Maria Jose. (2020). Mexique: A Refugee Story from the Spanish Civil War. Illus. Ana Panyas. Eerdmans. Translated from Spanish. HF
In 1937, a ship with 456 refugees, all children, sails to Mexico during the Spanish Civil War for what was supposed to be a short stay, but extended into years with many children never seeing their families again.
Also Montanes, Monica (2022). Different: A Story of the Spanish Civil War. Illus. Eva Sanchez Gomez, Eerdmans. HF. A Family fleeing Spain during the Civil War reunite in Venezuela after many hardships.

Fulton, Kristen. (2020). Flight for Freedom: The Wetzel Family’s Daring Escape from East Germany. Illus. Torben Kuhlmann. San Francisco: Chronicle. HF.
Based on true story of a family who escaped across the Berlin Wall in 1979 in a homemade hot air balloon.

Gouichoux, Rene (2019). Idriss and His Marble. Illus. Zau. StarBerry. RF
War forces a child and his mother to flee a country in Africa, as he clings to his lucky charm, a marble.

Guridi. Raul (2019). How to Put a Whale in a Suitcase. London: Tate. RF
A boy tries to squeeze a whale in his suitcase, a symbol of fitting his life in a suitcase before fleeing.

Greder, Armin (2018). The Mediterranean. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. VN, RF
Migrants drown in a boat navigating treacherous seas, an indictment of society’s treatment of migrants.

Hopkinson, Deborah (2002). Under the Quilt of Night. Illus. James Ransome. Aladdin. HF. 1800s
A young girl and her family flee their enslavement, following a trail to escape to freedom in the north.

James, Helen & Loh, Virginia (2013). Paper Son. Illus. Wilson Ong. Traverse, MI: Sleeping Bear Press. HF
A boy relectuantly leaves China on a sea voyage to undergo an examination at Angel Island.

Krans, Angela Pham (2023). Finding Papa. Illus. Thi Bui. HarperCollins. HF.
Mai and her mother journey from Vietnam to the U.S. to find Papa, who left to find a new home.

Kuntz, Doug & Shrodes, Amy (2017). Lost and Found Cat. Illus. Sue Cornelison.  New York: Crown. RF
A family of refugees traveling from Iraq to Greece loses their treasured cat in the midst of their journey.

Lam, Thao (2020). The Paper Boat: A Refugee Story. Owlkids. VN, HF
A family escapes from Vietnam on a small boat, intertwined with the journey of an ant colony.

Lawrence, Jacob (1993). The Great Migration. HarperCollins. History
A series of paintings on the journey of African Americans from the rural south due to harsh living conditions and racism in the quest for a better life in the industrial North. 1916-1919.

Lawrence, Patrice (2023). Granny Came Here on the Empire Windrush. Illus. Camilla Sucre. Nosy Crow. RF
A grandmother tells her story of leaving Trinidad as a young woman to immigrate to the UK by herself.

Maclear, Kyo (2020). Story Boat. Illus. Rashin Kheiriyeh. Toronto: Tundra. RF
Children traveling with a group of refugees use their imaginations and story to create hope.

Mateo, Jose Manuel (2014). Migrant. Illus. Javier Pedro Martinez. New York: Abrams. Bilingual, RF
Accordion frieze of a Mexican boy’s journey to the U.S. with his family, in the style of a Mayan codex.

McCormick, Patricia & Babakar, Meva (2024). The Bicycle. Illus. Yas Imamura. HarperCollins. Autobio
Mevan’s family must flee Kurdistan, traveling from place to place in search of safety, until a stranger’s act of kindness changes everything.

Meza, Erika (2023). To the Other Side. HarperCollins. FAN
A girl reframes the dangerous border crossing between Mexico/U.S. as games to help her brother.

Milner, Kate (2017). My Name is Not Refugee. Edinburgh: The Bucket List. RF
A young boy and his mother must leave town and walk and walk to find a safe place.

Mills, Deborah & Ava, Alfredo (2018). La frontera: El viaje con papa/ My Journey with Papa. Illus. Claudia Navarro. Cambridge, MA: Barefoot. Bio
Alfredo and his father must cross the border on a difficult journey from Mexico to the U.S.

Ming & Wah. (2021). Escape: One Day We Had To Run. Illus. Carmen Vela. London: Lantana. HF/RF
Each double-page spread tells the life story of an escape in different parts of the world by walking, swimming, biking and flying. A focus on flights to freedom both historical and contemporary.

Morales, Yuyi (2021). Bright Star. Holiday House. RF Sp
Depicts the ways in which the wall impacts plants, animals, and people crossing the desert.

Orbeck-Nilssen, Constance (2020). Vanishing Colors. Illus. Akin Duzakin. Norway Tr. Eerdman. RF
A young girl in a destroyed city exists in a dark world but memories bring back the colors in her life.

Orbeck-Nilsssen, Constance (2016). Why Am I Here? Illus. Akin Duzakin. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. RF
A young girl wonders what life would be like if she lived elsewhere or was a refugee.

Parsons-Yazzie, Evangeline (2005). Dzani yazhi naazbaa’=Little Woman Warrior who Came Home: A Story of the Navajo Long Walk. Illus. Irving Toddy. Salina Bookshelf. History,1864. Bil (Navajo/English).
A Navajo girl and her family are forced by U.S. troops on a long walk to Fort Sumner, enduring hardship.

Park, Frances & Park, Ginger (1998). My Freedom Trip: A Child’s Escape from North Korea. Illus. Debra Jenkins. Honesdale, Pa: Boyds Mill. HF
A child escapes from North Korea to join her father, leaving her mother behind. Based on mother’s life.

Quintana Silva, Maria (2018). Kalak’s Journey. Illus. Marie-Noelle Hebert. Cuento de Luz. Trans. Spanish. FAN
Kalak’s family of storks leave their old home on a difficult journey in search of a new home to sustain them.

Ruurs, Margriet (2016). Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey. Illus. Nizar Ali Badr. Victoria, BC: Orca (Arabic/English). RF
A young girl and her family flee from the civil war in Syria toward Europe. Stone artwork by Syrian artist.

Sanna, Francesca (2016). The Journey. London: Flying Eye Books. RF
A mother and her children journey into the unknown with fear and hope from the Middle East to Europe.

Shulevitz, Uri (2008). How I Learned Geography. New York: Farrar. HF
A boy escapes hunger and misery by studying his father’s world map as a Polish refugee during WWII.

Skrypuch, Marsha. F. & Ho, Tuan (2016). Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy’s Story of Survival. Illus. Brian Deines. Toronto: Annick. NF
Tuan and his family survive bullets and a leaking boat in long days at sea, fleeing Vietnam.

Tan, Shaun (2007). The Arrival. New York: Scholastic. VN, Fantasy
A man flees his homeland and sets off for a new country and a new life in a wordless graphic novel.

Tang, Marie (2024). Baba’s Peach Tree. Illus. Seo Kim. Random House. RF
Tao’s father is a migrant worker in rural China who is forced to move to the big city to survive, leaving their beloved peach tree and farm, until they are finally able to return many years later.

Temple, Kate & Joi (2019). Room on Our Rock. Illus. Terri Baynton. Tulsa, OK: Kane/Miller/EDC. Fantasy
There are two ways to read this story, either with seals rejecting or accepting room for others on their rock.

Tonatiuh, Duncan (2013). Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote. New York: Abrams. Fantasy
Pancho Rabbit goes on a dangerous trek in search of his father in El Norte, guided by a coyote.

Van den Ende, Peter (2020). The Wanderer. New York: Levine Querido. VN Fantasy
A little paper boat journeys across the ocean along, encountering wonder and danger.

Van, Myon Thi (2021). Wishes. Illus. Victo Ngai. Scholastic. Family Story. HF
A young refugee’s flight from Vietnam is told through a series of wihses by objects. Stunning illustrations.

Wang, Ann Suk (2024). The House Before Falling Into the Sea. Illus. Hanna Cha. Dial. HF
A child’s family takes in people fleeing from the north during the Korean War as their last chance of refuge in a house at the end of the sea, finding kindness in the midst of difficult journeys.

Watanabe, Issa (2020). Migrants. Gecko Press. VN Fantasy
A visually powerful narrative in which a group of animals are migrants are forced on a dangerous journey.

Weatherford, Carole Boston (2006). Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Illus. Kadir Nelson. Hyperion. HF Underground Railroad, early 1900s
Tubman’s escape from slavery for freedom and her work to lead others along the Underground Railroad.

Young, Rebecca (2017). Teacup. Illus. Matt Ottley. New York: Dial. Parable
A boy travels across the sea in a rowboat in search of a new home, with a teacup of dirt from his home.

Zarif, Marya (2023). Dounia and the Magic Seeds. French Tr. Owlkids. Magical Realism
Fleeing Syria, Dounia and her family face many threats that are overcome by magical barake seeds.

CHAPTER BOOKS
Abawi, Atia (2018). A Land of Permanent Goodbyes. New York: Penguin. YA, RF
After their home is bombed in Syria, Tareq and his family seek refuge with a militant group and then escape to Greece. Resilience in the face of darkness.

Argueta, Jorge (2019). Caravan to the North: Misael’s Long Walk. Illus. M. Monroy. NV, RF
A Salvadoran boy and his family join a caravan heading north, includes why they leave and their sadness at having to leave.

Bassoff, Leah (2018). Lost Girl Found. Toronto: Groundwood. YA, HF
Poni must run for her life due to the Sudanese war in a long and dangerous trek to a camp in Kenya.

Budhos, Marina (2006). Ask Me No Questions. New York: Simon & Schuster. YA, RF
A family from Bangladesh in New York City flee fearing deportation after 9-11 when their visas expire.

Colfer, Eoin (2018). Illegal. Ill. Giovanni Rigalo. Sourcebooks. RF, GN
Ebo is on a dangerous journey from Ghana across the desert and ocean to find his family and a better life.

Diaz, Alexandra (2016). The Only Road. New York: Simon & Schuster. RF
A boy makes a treacherous journey from Guatemala when his cousin is murdered by the drug cartel.
Sequel: The Crossroads (2019). Dealing with life as an undocumented immigrant in the U.S.

Dobbs, Alda. (2021). Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna. Sourcebooks. HF
Petra’s father is imprisoned during the 1913 Mexican Revolution and so Petra must travel north with her young siblings across the desert with the goal of keeping her family safe and holding her dreams close.
Sequel: The Other Side of the River (2022) about building a new life in the U.S. Includes time in a refugee camp and prejudice because of her mestizo skin.

Engle, Margarita (2009). Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. New York: Holt. YA, HF, NV
A refugee ship from Nazi Germany is given entry to Cuba as a refugee boy befriends a Cuban girl.

Gratz, Alan (2018). Refugee. New York: Scholastic. HF
Three refugee stories connect across time and place in harrowing journeys occurring in 1930s Germany, 1994 Cuba, and 2015 Syria.

Higuera, Donna Barba (2021). The Last Cuentista. Levine Querido. Sci Fi
Petra’s world is ending with the destruction of Earth by a comet, but she is chosen to journey to a new planet, waking to find that she is the only one who has retained memory and story, the source of hope.

Hiranandani, Veera (2018). The Night Diary. New York: Dial. HF
A girl forced to flee with her Hindu family during the 1947 partition of India keeps a diary.
Sequel: Amil and the After. (2024). Amil struggles to find hope and belonging once the family arrives in India.

Hosseini, Khaled (2018). Sea Prayer. Riverhead. RF
A short, illustrated book in the form of a letter from father to son on the eve of a dangerous sea crossing.

Jaramillo, Ann (2008). La Linea. New York: Roaring Brook. YA, RF
Miguel and his sister leave their Mexican village in a dangerous journey across the desert and border.

Johnston, Tony (2019). Beast Rider: A Boy’s Journey Beyond the Border. New York: Abrams. YA, RF
A boy must travel on a dangerous trek from Mexico to Los Angeles to reunite with his brother.

Kullab, Samya & Roche, Jackie, & Freiheit, Mike (2017). Escape from Syria. Toronto: Firefly. YA, RF, GN
A family flees war-torn Syria, enduring refugee camps, ocean crossings, and swindlers to seek safety.

Lee, Julie (2020). Brother’s Keeper. Holiday House. HF
Two children flee from North Korea, trying to reach South Korea and safety during the Korean War.
Sequel: In the Tunnel (2023). A boy returns to North Korea to try and free his father from prison.

Mendoza, Paola. (2020). Sanctuary. Putnam. Sci Fi Dystopia YA
In 2032, Deportation Forces threaten an undocumented family from Colombia who must flee across the U.S., to California, which is being walled off from the rest of the U.S. as a place of safety and sanctuary.

Nagai, Mariko. (2019). Under the Broken Sky. New York: Holt. NV HF
Two Japanese sisters whose family are settlers in Japanese-occupied Manchuria are forced to flee at the end of WWII when the Soviet Union invades China, leading to a journey of hardship and suffering. 1945.

Nannestad, Katrina (2022). We Are Wolves. German Tr. Atheneum. HF
Three children are separated from their mother as they flee the Russian army at the end of WWII.

Nazario, Sonia (2013). Enrique’s Journey. New York: Penguin. YA, NF
A teen’s dangerous journey from Honduras through Mexico to the U.S. in search of his mother.

Paterson, Katherine (2009). The Day of the Pelican. Sandpiper. HF
In Kosovo, Meli and her family flee the civil war, moving from one refugee camp to another.

Pham, Tho (2023). The Cricket War. Kids Can Press. HF
Tho escapes from Communist Vietnam by himself on a boat in a harrowing journey. Author’s story.

Rodkey, Geoff (2019). We’re Not from Here. New York: Crown. Sci Fi
A boy and his family migrate to the planet Choom but must change the minds of the inhabitants who no longer welcome the “violent” humans who have already destroyed their own planet.

Ryan, Pam Muñoz (2020). Manañaland. Scholastic. Fantasy.
In a fictional Latin American country, Max realizes that the stories his grandfather tells him about a gatekeeper who guides travelers on a journey into tomorrow are related to his mother’s disappearance.

Shulevitz, Uri. (2020). Chance: Escape from the Holocaust. New York: Farrar. Memoir.
The author/illustrator recounts his childhood as a Polish Jew whose family flees from Warsaw to the Soviet Union and Turkestan, where they face continuous threats and tremendous hardships.

Tingle, Tim (2013). How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story. Roadrunner Press. HF 1830s
A Choctaw boy tells how his tribe’s removal from their land in Mississippi on a forced journey to Oklahoma led to him becoming a ghost.

Torres Sanchez, Jenny (2020). We Are Not from Here. Philomel. YA, RF
Three Guatemalan teens run from violence in a desperate journey through Mexico to reach the U.S. border.

Williams, Mary (2005). Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Illus. R. Gregory Christie. New York: Lee & Low. NF
Orphaned by the Sudanese civil war, a boy leads other “lost” boys on a long walk to Ethiopia and Kenya.

Life in Refugee Camps and Detention Centers

PICTUREBOOKS
Binford, Warren. (2021). Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz—The Testimonies of Children Detained at America’s Southern Border. 17 illustrators. Workman. Bilingual. NF Interviews. Bilingual.
First-person accounts from 61 migrant children, ages 5-17, based on interviews with children in detention centers on the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

Briseno, Stephen (2022). The Notebook Keeper. Illus. Magdalena Mora. Random House. RF
Noemi and her mother are denied entry at the border and must the refugee in charge of the notebook, an unofficial ledger of those waiting to cross from Mexico into the U.S.

Bui, Hanh (2024). Ánh’s New Word: A Story about Learning a New Language. Illus. Bao Luu. Macmillan. HF
A child in a Vietnamese refugee camp finds the courage to speak her first word in English. True story.

Cha, Dia (1996). Dia’s Story Cloth. Illus. Chue Cha. New York: Lee & Low. HF
A story cloth chronicles the journey of a Hmong family from Laos to a refugee camp to the US.

Cooper, Helen (2022). Saving the Butterfly. Illus. Gill Smith. Candlewick. RF
The only survivors of a refugee boat, two children are taken to a refugee camp, where the older child sinks into a depression from trauma, until a butterfly shows that healing takes patience and time.

Copp, Mary Wagley (2019). Wherever I Go. Illus. Munir Mohammed. New York: Atheneum. RF
Abia is the self-proclaimed queen of a refugee camp in Ethiopia, where she has spent her childhood. When her family is resettled, she takes her story of resilience and strength with her.

Danticat, Edwidge (2015). Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation. Illus. Leslie Staub. New York: Dial. RF
Saya takes action for her mother who is in a US detention center as an undocumented Haitian immigrant.

De Anda, Diane (2019). Mango Moon. Illus. Sue Cornelison. Whitman. RF
A family faces many challenges when a father is taken to a detention center to face deportation to Mexico.

Del Rizzo, Suzanne (2017). My Beautiful Birds. New York: Pajama Press. RF
In a refugee camp, Sami worries about the safety of the pet pigeons he left behind in Syria.

Ghanameh, Aya (2023). These Olive Trees. Viking. HF
Oraib plants olive trees outside the refugee camp in Palestine where she lives, but war comes again.

Greder, Armin (2007). The Island. Crows Nest, Sydney: Allen & Unwin. RF
A stranger washed ashore on a remote island is put in a pen, rejected as different by the inhabitants.

Juarez, Estela. (2022). Until Someone Listens. Illus. Teresa Martinez. Roaring Brook. Memoir.
A girl whose mother has been deported to Mexico, takes action using her voice for change.True story

Khan, Ruhksana (1998). The Roses in My Carpets<. Illus. Ronald Himler. New York: Holiday House. RF
An Afghan boy struggles with life in a refugee camp, finding comfort from bombs in weaving carpets.

Laínez, Rena Colato (2016). Mamá the Alien/Mamá la extraterrestre. Illus. Laura Lacamara. New York: Children’s Book Press. RF
A young girl misunderstands the word alien on her Latinx mother’s immigration card.

Marsden, John (2008). Home and Away. Illus. Matt Ottley. Melbourne: Hachette. RF
An imagined devastating scenario in which a middle-class Australian family must flee to a refugee camp.

Meddour, Wendy (2019). Lubna and Pebble. Illus. Daniel Egnéus. New York: Dial. RF
Lubna’s best friend in a refugee camp is a pebble who brings her comfort, but someone else needs it.

Milway, Katie Smith (2017). The Banana-Leaf Ball: How Play Can Change the World. Toronto: Kids Can. NF
When gangs become a problem in a refugee camp in Tanzania, a coach organizes soccer games.

Rahman, Bahram. (2020). The Library Bus. Illus. Gabrielle Grimard. Pajama Press. RF
Pari goes with her mother to deliver books and language lessons to a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Robertson, Daivd (2016). When We Were Alone. Illus. Julie Flett. HighWater Press. RF. Canada
A Cree child wonders why her grandmother acts in particular ways and gradually the story of her grandmother’s life in a residential school in Canada unfolds along with a story of resistance.

Santiago, Chiori (1998). Home to Medicine Mountain. Illus. Judith Lowery. Children’s Book Press. HF 1930s
Two Maidu brothers escape their Indian residential school in California to return home for the summer.

Shea, Pegi D. (1995). The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee’s Story. Illus. Anita Riggio. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills. HF
A Hmong girl in a Thai refugee camp finds the story within herself to create her own pa’ndau story cloth.

Takei, George (2024). My Lost Freedom. Illus. Michele Lee. Crown. Autobiography, WWII
Growing up in Japanese American Incarceration camps, George is treated as an enemy in his own country.

Vandever, Daniel (2017). Fall in Line, Holden! Salina Bookshelf. RF
A strict school on the Navajo Nation, where the effects and resistance to boarding schools are still evident.

Williams, Karen & Mohammed, Khadra (2007). Four Feet, Two Sandals. Illus. Doug Chayka. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. RF
Two Afghan girls in a refugee camp in Pakistan share a precious pair of sandals brought by relief workers.

Yang, Kao Kalia. (2021). From the Tops of Trees. Carolrhoda. Memoir
Kalia has only known life in a Thai camp for Hmong refugees from Laos, so her father lifts her from the highest tree to see what lies beyond the camp.

Yang, Kao Kalia (2024). Caged. Illus. Khour Vue. Kokila.
A Hmong child grows up in a Thai refugee camp, unaware she is a cage, using imagination to travel.

CHAPTER BOOKS
Ahmed, Samira (2019). Internment. Little Brown. YA, Fantasy
A dystopia in which Muslim Americans are forced into internment camps and organize against silence.

Almellehan, Muzoon (2023). Muzoon: A Syrian Refugee Speaks Out. Knopf. Memoir.
After Muzoon’s family flees Syria, they live in a refugee camp, and her belief in the power of education.

Argueta, Jorge (2019). Jimena Perez Puede Volar. Illus. F. Vandenbroeck. Pinata. NV, RF
A mother and child forced to flee El Salvador are separated at the U.S. border and imprisoned.

Chee, Traci (2020). We Are Not Free. New York: HMH. YA HF
Interconnected stories of 14 teens about the injustice experienced by Japanese Americans imprisoned in camps during WWII. Integrates different media types, such as telegrams and drawings.

Deng, Achut and Hutton, Keely (2022). Don’t Look Back: A Memoir of War, Survival and My Journey from Sudan to America. FSG. YA Memoir
Achut is left without a family, living in refugee camps before facing new challenges after being selected to come to the U.S.

Diaz, Alexandra. (2020). Santiago’s Road Home. New York: Simon & Schuster. RF
Fleeing abusive relatives and extreme poverty in Mexico, Santiago’s harrowing journey leads to a detention camp at the U.S. border and an uncertain future.

Fraillon, Zana (2016). The Bone Sparrow. New York: Hyperion. RF
Subhi, a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, has spent his entire life in a refugee camp in Australia. His contained world expands when a girl arrives on the other side of the fence.

Heighton, Steven. (2020). The Stray and the Strangers. Illus. Melissa Iwai. Toronto: Groundwood. RF
A stray dog befriends an orphaned Syrian boy in a refugee camp on a Greek island. Told from the dog’s perspective in a story based on a real event.

Hughes, Kiku. (2020). Displacement. New York: First Second. YA FN GN
A contemporary Japanese American teen travels back in time to the camp where her grandmother was imprisoned during WWII.

Jamieson, Victoria & Mohamed, Omar (2020). When Stars are Scattered. New York: Dial. Bio, GN
Omar, a Somali refugee, who has spent most of his life in a refugee camp in Kenya, gets an opportunity for an education, but that would mean a separation from his nonverbal brother.

Kadohota, Cynthia (2006). Weedflower. Atheneum. HF WWII
Sumiko and her Japanese American family are taken from their flower farm and imprisoned in the desert on the Mojave Indian reservation in Arizona, where she encounters resentment and gradual friendship.

King, Thomas (2021). Borders. Illus. Natasha Donovan. Little Brown. GR, RF
A boy and his mother identify as Blackfoot and are caught in limbo between the U.S. and Canada borders.

Mitchell, Jane (2023). Run for Your Life. Little Island. RF
Azari and her mother flee for their lives to Ireland where they are forced to live in a refugee center.

Moldavsky, Goldy (2024). Just Say Yes. Holt. RF YA
Jimena, who is Peruvian American, is shocked to discover she’s undocumented and desperately seeks a solution by persuading a friend to marry her, fearing deportation. Living with uncertainty and fear.

Newman, Carey (2022). The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art and Reconciliation. Orca Books. NF
Newman created a living work of art by collecting hundreds of objects from Indigenous people whose family members were taken to residential schools across Canada. 1870s-1990s.

Salazar, Aida (2020). Land of the Cranes. New York: Scholastic. NV RF
When Betitia’s father is deported to Mexico, Betitia struggles to survive in inhumane conditions in a detention camp outside of Los Angeles, expressing her feelings in picture poems. Verse novel.

Sekaran, Shanthi (2021). The Samosa Rebellion. Katherine Tegen Books. FAN
Pati and his grandmother move from India to Mariposa, an island nation, where the president declares them Moths, recent immigrants sent to a camp to be deported, versus Butterflies, who can stay.

Stanley, Jerry (1992) Children of the Dust Bowl. Crown. History Info.
The plight of Oklahoma farm families forced to California due to dust storms during the Depression, living in a federal labor camp crowded with Dust Bowl refugees and their efforts to build a school.

Torres, J. (2021). Stealing Home. Kids Can Press. HF GR
A Japanese Canadian family is incarcerated in a camp in 1940s Vancouver. Baseball themes.

Whitman, Sylvia (2013). The Milk of Birds. New York: Atheneum. YA, RF
Two teens are paired as pen pals, one in a Sudanese refugee camp and the other in Richmond, Virginia.

Displacement and Belonging in a New Place

PICTUREBOOKS
Azaad, Dezh (2023). The Carpet: An Afghan Family Story. Illus. Nan Cao. Abrams. RF
The life of an Afghan refugee family revolves around love, family, and the carpet that connects them.

Betancourt-Peréz, Jessica. (2021). A Thousand White Butterflies. Illus. Gina Maldonado. Charlesbridge. RF
Newly arrived from Colombia, Isabella makes a new friend on a snow day across languages.

Claire, Celine (2016). Shelter. Illus. Quin Leng. Toronto: Kids Can. Fantasy
During a storm, the animals turn away two strangers, who later come to the rescue for the fox family.

Dieckmann, Sandra (2017). Leaf. Flying Eye Books. FAN
A lost polar bear strikes fear in the woodland animals until they observe his efforts to return home.

Elya, Susan M. (2002). Home at Last. Illus. Felipe Davalos. New York Lee & Low. RF
Ana helps her mother adjust to their move from Mexico to the U.S. and helps her learn English.

Farish, Terry (2016). Joseph’s Big Ride. Illus. Ken Daley. Toronto: Annick. RF
A refugee from Kenya in Canada is determined to ride a bicycle, leading to an unexpected friendship.
Also, A Feast for Joseph (2021), continues their friendship as Joseph tries to organize a shared feast.

Gaiman, Neil (2023). What You Need to Be Warm. Illus. Yuliya Gwilym. HarperCollins. RF
A poem that draws together memories to answer the question, what do you need to be warm? Illustrated by 13 artists, written for those who are displaced on what it means to be safe and warm in a difficult world.

Gay, Marie-Louise (2018). Mustafa. Toronto: Groundwood. RF
A Syrian refugee, still feeling trauma from the war, visits a park near his new home, finding a new friend.

Gomez Redondo, Susana (2020). The Day Saida Arrived. Illus. Sonja Wimmer. Blue Dot. RF
Two girls become friends as they teach each other words from their languages of English and Arabic.

Jennings, Terry Catasús (2022). The Little House of Hope. Illus. Raúl Colón. Holiday House. RF
An immigrant family from Cuba welcomes other refugee families and offers a safe place in a new land.

Khalil, Aya (2020) The Arabic Quilt. Illus. Anait Semirdzhyan. Tilbury House. RF
An Arabic quilt connects Kanzi to her old home in Cairo and to acceptance of her language in school.

Kim, Patti (2014). Here I Am. Illus. Sonia Sanchez. North Mankato, MN: Capstone. RF, VN
Pictures tell the story of new immigrants to the U.S. who struggle with the challenges of starting a new life.

le Guen, Sandra (2020). The Refuge. Illus. Stéphane Nicolet. Amazon. French Tr. RF
Two girls share a love of astronomy, but different languages as they find a way to share stories.

Leung, Julie (2019). Paper Song: Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist. Illus. Chris Sasaki. New York: Schwarz. Bio
Biography of a Chinese immigrant whose love of art led him to become an animator for Disney.

Levine, Ellen (1989). I Hate English! Illus. Steve Björkman New York: Scholastic. RF
Mei Mei moved from Hong Kong to New York, finding it difficult to adjust to school and to learn English.

Liu, Dane (2021). Friends are Friends, Forever. Illus. Lynn Scurfield. Holt. RF
When Dandan leaves China for the U.S., her best friend sends a gift that allows her to celebrate the Chinese New Year and make a new friend.

Manoli, Constantia. (2022). Tomatoes in My Lunchbox. Roaring Brook. RF
A young immigrant feels like an outsider as her name is mispronounced and her food seen as weird.

Naylor-Ballesteros, Chris (2020). The Suitcase. HMH. FAN
A weary stranger arrives with a suitcase and experiences both judgment and kindness by new neighbors.

Niebuhr-Siebert, Sandra (2023). Mina Belongs Here. Floris. German Tr. RF
Mina is worried about starting kindergarten in a new country, especially because the language is new.

O’Brien, Anne. S. (2015). I’m New Here. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. RF
Three children from Somalia, Guatemala, and Korea struggle to adjust to their new home and school.
(2018). Someone New. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. RF
Companion book from the perspective of the classmates learning to connect with the newcomers in school.

Pearson, Debora (2021). My Words Flew Away Like Birds. Illus. Shrija Jain. Kids Can Press. 2021.
A newly arrived girl finds that her words have flown away as she waits and listens to figure things out, until one day she meets someone who needs her help.

Richards, Doyin. (2021). Watch Me: A Story of Immigration and Inspiration. Illus. Joe Cepeda. Macmillan. RF
Joe, a boy from Sierra Leone, has big dreams and the will to fulfill them. Author’s father.

Sanna, Francesca (2018). Me and My Fear. London: Flying Eye Books. RF
When a young girl moves countries and starts at a new school, her Fear tells her to be alone and afraid.

Sarihi, Sepideh (2020). My Favorite Memories. Illus. Julie Volk. German Tr. Blue Dot. RF
A young girl moving across the ocean searches for a way to travel with all of her favorite memories.

Shamsi, Shirin. (2023). The Moon from Dehradun. Illus. Tarun Lar. Atheneum. HF
A young girl flees with her family during the partition of India in 1947, leaving behind valued possessions.

Sworder, Zono (2023). My Strange Shrinking Parents. Thames & Hudson. FAN
A boy’s Chinese parents make many sacrifices and have a hard life to give their son a better life.

Tahmaseb, Ryan (2024) Rostam’s Picture-Day Pusteen. Charlesbridge. RF
Rostam is embarrassed to wear his father’s pusteen for the school picture day until his mother explains how the wool-lined vest reflects their heritage.

Torres Sanchez, Jenny (2022). With Lots of Love. Illus. Andre Ceolin. Viking. RF
A girl moves from Central America, missing her Abuela, who sends her a gift of love.

Tran-Davies, Nhung (2021). The Doll. Illus. Ravy Puth. Second Story. RF
Vietnamese woman who received a doll as a welcome pays the gift forward to another refugee child.

Umrigar, Thirty (2020). Sugar in Milk. Illus. Khoa Le. RP Kids. RF
An immigrant girl struggles with loneliness and displacement until her aunt tells her an old folktale of Persian refugees who flee to India, proving to the king that there is always room for more.

Wells, Rosemary (2021). The Welcome Chair. Illus. Jerry Pinkney. Simon & Schuster. HF
A treasured wooden chair is passed from family to family with each carving welcome in a new language.

Wild, Margaret. (2017). The Treasure Box. Illus. Freya Blackwood. Somerset, MA: Candlewick. HF
When a library is bombed, Peter’s father saves a beloved book that is buried under a tree during their flight as refugees. Peter returns as an adult to dig up the box containing the treasured book.

Williams, Karen Lynn (2021). Facing Fear—An Immigrant Story. Illus. Sara Palacios. Eerdmans. RF
Enrique cannot travel from the U.S. to his soccer teams tournament in Mexico because his family is undocumented and could be split up. Issues of family courage and peer relationships.

Wong, Jack. (2023). The Words We Share. Annick. RF
Angie translates for her father, a Chinese immigrant, and opens a business translating for others.

Yang, Kao Kalia. (2024). The Rock in My Throat. Illus. Jiemei Lin. Carolrhoda. RF, memoir
As a Hmong refugee child, Kao became selectively mute in English in protest over the treatment of her parents as English-learners in public spaces.

Yoh, Eugenia (2023). This is Not My Home. Illus Vivienne Chang. Little Brown. RF
Lily is upset when the family moves from the U.S. to Taiwan to care for her grandmother.

Young, Vo (2022). Gibberish. Levine Quarto. RF
When Dat starts school in a country where he does not speak the language, everything around him sounds like gibberish, until a friend helps him make sense of his new world.

CHAPTER BOOKS
Alsaid, Adi, ed (2020). Come On In: 15 Stories about Immigration and Finding Home.Inkyard. YA, RF
Collection of short storise by YA authors who are immigrants, depicting a range of immigrant experiences.

Arnold, Marie (2021). The Year I Flew Away. Versify. FAN.
Gabriella is bullied when she arrives at her uncle’s house from Haiti and makes a bad deal with a witch.

Eihillo, Safia (2021). Home is Not a Country. Make Me a World. NV YA RF
A Sudanese Muslim girl in the U.S is constantly bullied and wishes she were someone else in another place in themes of belonging, Islamaphobia, and oppressions of immigrant women. Magical realism.

Faruqi, Reem. (2021). Unsettled. Harper. RF NV
Nurah feels out of place when her family moves from Pakistan to Georgia as she fights to find her voice.

Fung, Rosena (2021). Living with Viola. Annick. RF GN
A family’s move from Hong Kong to Canada leads to experiences of microagressions and depression and to the creation of Viola in Livy’s head as a voice of constant self-doubt and anxiety .

Garza Villa, Jonny (2023). Ander & Santi Were Here. Wednesday Books. YA RF
Ander wants to focus on their art but a romance with Santi, an undocumented immigrant, faces complications due to immigrant police.

Giles, Chrystal (2023). Take Back the Block. Penguin. RF
The issue of gentrification hits a low-income Black urban neighborhood as a real estate developer buys out properties and forces families to relocate, pushing Wes and his friends to organize to save their community.

Gilland, Raquel Vasquez (2020). Sia Martinex and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything. Simon. Sci Fi YA
Sia’s mother disappeared while trying to return to her family after being deported, but the truth uncovers that her mother has been abducted by a government-sponsored alien technology program.

Guidroz, Rukhsanna (2021). Samira Surfs. Kokila. NV RF
A Rohingya family flees oppression in Burma but finds their life in Bangladesh difficult and struggles with poverty. Samira finds a place of belonging in a local surf club, despite being a Muslim girl.

Hollingsworth, Alyssa (2018). The Eleventh Trade. New York: Roaring Brook. RF
Sami must recover a treasured Afghan instrument stolen from his grandfather but has no money and so begins trading to get it back–a tale about living with fear, being a friend, and finding a new home.

Krishnaswami, Uma (2003). Chachaji’s Cup. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press. HF
A boy learns about his family history and the Partition of India from his great uncle through stories told over a beloved old teacup.

Leahy, Elisa Stone (2023). Tethered to Other Stars. HarperCollins. RF
Academic pressures, astronomy, and bullying in middle school are set against ICE raids that lead to families disappearing and a difficult decision to do what is right by a Salvadoran/Guatemalan girl.

Marsh, Katherine (2018). Nowhere Boy. New York: Roaring Brook. RF
A Syrian refugee boy and an American boy have their lives intertwine in Belgium when terrorist attacks lead to suspicions of Muslims and refugees.

McManus, Charlene W. (2019). Indian No More. Lee & Low. HF 1954
When Regina’s Umpqua tribe is legally terminated, her family is forced to relocate to a city where she struggles with her identity and what it means to be Indian. Autobiographical.

Otheguy, Emma Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene. Knopf. RF
A Cuban immigrant with a love of ballet and costume design comes to recognize how immigration, race, class, and privilege intersect in her life and in how she is treated by others.

Rai, Alisha (2023). While You Were Dreaming. HarperCollins. YA RF
Indian American Sonia has undocumented family members, so going viral after she saves a friend’s life is problematic. Includes issues of immigration, health care, and toxic use of social media.

Rosen, Michael (2022). On the Move: Home is Where You Find It. Candlewick. Poetry, Memoir
Personal poems based on family displacement due to the Holocaust and global experiences of migration.

Ryan, Pam Muñoz (2000). Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic. HF
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth in Mexico to become migrant workers.

Senzai, N. H. (2010). Shooting Kabul. New York: Simon & Schuster. RF
Escaping from Afghanistan, Fadi’s family heads to the U.S., accidentally leaving his little sister in a camp.

Shahi, Arya (2023). An Impossible Thing to Say. HF NV YA
After 9/11, Omid struggles with finding the right words to connect with his grandfather, embrace his Iranian heritage, and express himself to other teens. The role of language in defining who you are. Novel in verse

Tang, Betty (2023). Parachute Kids. GN HF (1981)
3 Taiwanese siblings live on their own as undocumented immigrants, while their parents in Taiwan work to rejoin them. They face racism, social pressures, and the difficulty of sibling relationships without parents.

Yang, Kelly (2018). Front Desk. HF (1990). Scholastic.
A Chinese immigrant family struggles with poverty, hard work at a run-down motel, and racism, while hope appears in small places as Mia fights injustice. Autobiographical. Series.

Searching for Home: Multiple Places in the Heart

PICTUREBOOKS
Arrigo, Mark & Chatterton, Steven (2021). Adnan the Boy Who Helped His Mummy Remember. Illus. Diala Brisly. Frances Lincoln. UK. RF. Also published as a film
A boy attempts to heal his mother’s mental health with creativity as they rebuild their lives in a new home.

Azaad, Dezh (2023). The Carpet: An Afghan Family Story. Illus. Nan Cao. Abrams. RF
The life of an Afghan refugee family revolves around love, family, and the carpet that connects them.

Blackthorne, Livia (2021). I Dream of Popo. Illus. Julia Kuo. Roaring Brook. Family Story, RF
An immigrant to the U.S. remains connected to her beloved grandmother in Taiwan.

Bowles, David (2021). My Two Border Towns. Kokila. RF
Life on the U.S./Mexico border as a boy and his father joyfully visit The Other Side each Saturday.

Crespo, Ana (2024). Saudade. Neal Porter. RF
Saudade is a Portuguese word meaning to yearn for something you once had. A girl and her Brazilian immigrant mother contemplate what makes them feel saudade and share important memories.

Foreman, Michael (2015). The Seeds of Friendship. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. RF
An immigrant boy brings the green warmth of Africa into his new cold urban world in the UK.

Garland, Sherry (1993). The Lotus Seed. Illus. Tatsuro Kiuchi. San Diego: Harcourt. RF
A lotus seed holds the memory and the story of a Vietnamese refugee family’s homeland.

Greene, Kerisa (2024). I Am Both: A Vietnamese Refugee Story. Macmillan. HF (1975)
Huong loses her sense of belonging in fleeing Vietnam for the U.S. but realize she has both identities

Harmony, Cynthia. (2024). A Flicker of Hope. Illus. Devon Holzwarth. Viking. RF
Parallel stories of monarchs and migrant farm workers who move with the seasons across borders.

Hoffman, Mary (1992). The Color of Home. Illus. Karen Littlewood. London: Frances Lincoln. RF
A struggling refugee boy shares his story through drawing a picture of his old home in Somalia.

Kobald, Irena (2014). My Two Blankets. Illus. Freya Blackwood. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. RF
A Sudanese girl clings to an old blanket when she is sad, but a friendship helps her create a new blanket.

Llanos, Mariana. (2023). Luca’s Bridge/El Puente de Luca. Illus. Anna López Real. Penny Candy. RF Bilingual
When his family is deported to Mexico from the U.S., Luca feels like he has lost the only home he knows.

Marwan, Zahra (2022). Where Butterflies Fill the Sky. Bloomsbury. Memoir.
A stateless girl and her family are forced to move from one desert home to another, Kuwait to New Mexico.

Menon, Uma (2024). My Mother’s Tongue: A Weaving of Languages. Illus. Rahele J. Bell. Candlewick. RF
A girl celebrates her immigrant mother’s ability to speak two languages, Malayalam and English.

Morales, Areli (2021). Areli is a Dreamer. Random House. Memoir
A Dreamer recalls her journey from Mexico to New York and living as an undocumented immigrant.

Morales, Yuyi (2018). Dreamers. New York: Holiday House. Memoir
A memoir on the power of story and the gifts that migrants bring with them when they leave their homes.

Moushabeck, Hannah (2023). Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine. Illus. Reem Madooh. RF
A father and his daughters cannot return home but then can celebrate stories of their homeland.

Nuño, Fran (2016). The Map of Good Memories. Illus. Zuzanna Celej. Madrid: Cuento de Luz. RF
Zoe draws a map of good memories of the city she needs to flee with her family during a war.

Perkins, Mitali. (2021). Home is in Between. Illus. Lavanya Naidu. RF
A Bengali immigrant feels caught between her family’s Bengali traditions and her new country’s culture, trying to figure out how to live “in-between” and navigate the space between cultures.

Phi, Bao (2017). A Different Pond. Illus. Thi Bui. Capstone. RF
Bao and his father wake early to fish at a small pond to feed their family and tell stories of Vietnam.

Rahman, Bahram (2024). If You See a Bluebird. Illus. Gabrielle Grimard. Pajama Press. RF
Ali longs to return to Afghanistan until his Nana teaches him that home is not a place, but the love of family.

Say, Allen (2013). Grandfather’s Journey. New York: Houghton Mifflin. HF
A grandson connects with his grandfather’s feelings of being torn by a love for two countries.

Tran, Truong (2003). Going Home, Coming a Home. Illus. Ann Phing. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press. RF
A young girl visits her grandmother in Vietnam, learning she can call two places home. English/Vietnamese

Williams, Ismee (2024). Abuelo, the Sea, and Me. Illus. Tatiana Gardel. Roaring Brook. RF
A girl walks with her Abuelo along the beach as he shares stories about his life in Havana.

Yaccarino, Dan (2011). All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel. Dragonfly. RF
A small shovel is passed through generations, reflecting their history of working hard and loving family.

Yoh, Eugenia (2023). This is Not My Home. Illus. Vivienne Chang. Little Brown. RF
Lily is upset when her family moves back to Taiwan to care for her grandmother, not feeling at home.

CHAPTER BOOKS
Agosin, Marjorie (2014). I Lived on Butterfly Hill. New York: Atheneum. HF
Pinochet’s takeover of Chile sends an unwilling Celeste to the U.S. and her parents into hiding.

Aleman, Daniel (2023). Brighter than the Sun. Little Brown. YA RF
After her mother’s death, Soledad struggles to balance school/work on the U.S. border with supporting family in Tijuana, straddling personal and political borderlands as the only U.S. citizen in her family.

Aguire, Jorge August (2024). Call Me Iggy. First Second. GN FAN
A Colombian American teen doesn’t think often about his heritage until his grandfather’s ghost shows him what he is missing. Themes of multiple identities, racism, cultural alienation, and immigrant ideology.

Bowles, David (2021). They Call Me Guero: A Border Kid’s Poems. Kokila. RF, Novel in Verse
Guero is a red-headed Mexican American border kid who discovers the joy of writing poetry.
Sequel: They Call Her Fregona (2022) about a friend’s father being deported.

Cisneros, Ernesto. (2021). Efren Divided. Quill Tree Books. RF
When Efren’s mother is deported, he must care for his young siblings, taking on many responsibilities. Unsure of who to trust, he is supported by the kindness of the Latinx community.

Lai, Thanhha (2011). Inside Out And Back Again. New York: HarperCollins. HF, NV
The story of a Vietnamese girl and her family who are settled as refugees in Alabama in 1975.
Sequel: When Clouds Touch Us (2023). Ha’s family moves to Texas, bringing upheaval, growth, and love.

Marr, Shirley (2021). A Glasshouse of Stars. Simon & Schuster. FAN
Meixing arrives in the New Land, a place of confusion and fear, until she finds a magical greenhouse with two fellow “outsiders” that providse a gateway to hope and resilience.

Marr, Shirley (2022). All Four Quarters of the Moon. Simon & Schuster. RF
As two Chinese sisters adjust to a new life in Australia and many uncertainties in their family, they create a magical world bbased in Chinese folktales.

Park, Linda Sue (2010). A Long Walk to Water. New York: Clarion. HF, RF
Two stories in alternating sections connecting a “lost boy” of the Sudan in 1985 with a girl in the Sudan in 2008 who has to walk long distances for water.

Pham, Thien (2023). Family Style Memories of an American from Vietnam. First Second. Memoir.
Uses memories based in food to chronicle his family’s dangerous journey as refugees on a boat and in a camp, and then their search for belonging in the US. Food as a love language.

Thor, Annika (2009). A Faraway Island. New York: Yearling. HF
Two Jewish sisters leave Austria during WWII and find refuge in Sweden with new families.

Yang, Kelly (2023). Finally Seen. Simon & Schuster. RF
Lina leaves China to join her parents and sister after five years of postcards, struggling with hurt and anger at being left behind. She has lost her sense of home and feels unseen both within her family and at school.

Immigration and Refugees Across Time and Place in Nonfiction

PICTUREBOOKS
Alko, Selina (2021). I is for Immigrants. Holt. ABC Info.
A montage of words and images of the feelings, ideas, and things that immigrants bring to the U.S.

Candlewick Studios (2019). Migrations: Open Hearts, Open Borders. Candlewick.
Fifty artists from around the world created postcard images of birds along with messages of hope.

Coy, John (2016). Their Great Gift. Wing Young Huie. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda. NF
Photos explore the experiences of immigrants, celebrating the diversity and hope they bring to the U.S.

Eengle, Margarita (2021). Light for All. Illus. Raúl Colon. Simon & Schuster. Poetry/NF
A picturebook about the immigrant experience in the U.S., that highlights the Statue of Liberty, including the promuse and opportunity for some while others are disenfranchised and mistreated.

Gravel, Elise (2019). What Is a Refugee? New York: Schwartz & Wade. NF
A simple and graphic introduction to the term refugee for young children.

Ho, Joanna (2021). Playing at the Border. Illus. Teresa Martinez. Harper. NF
The true story of how Yo-Yo Ma gave a concert on the border using music to bridge the U.S. and Mexico

Ho, Joanna (2023). On the Tip of a Wave: How Ai Weiwei’s Art is Changing the Tide. Illus. Catia Chien. Orchard. BIO
An activist artist is inspired by refugees’ discarded life jackets on Greek shores to create a bold installation.

McCarney, Rosemary (2017). Where Will I Live? Toronto, ON: Second Story Press. NF
Photos of refugee children from around the world forced to flee due to war, hunger, and natural disasters.

Rosen, Michael (2016) Who Are Refugees and Migrants? What Makes People Leave Their Homes? London: Wayland. NF
Explores the history of refugees around the world and the effects of never-ending war and conflict.

Roberts, Ceri (2017). Children in Our World: Refugees and Migrants. Illus. Hanane Kai. London: Wayland. NF
Discusses what it means to be a refugee and why would people leave their homes.

Thermes, Jennifer (2023). A Place Called America: A Story of the Land and the People. Abrams.
A map-based view of history that centers multiple waves of immigration, discrimination, and colonization. Presents a history rooted in the experiences of many, not the privileged few.

Whitehill, Miry (2022). Our World is a Family. Illus. Nomar Perez. Sourcebooks. RF
Explores reasons why people leave their homes and the importance of welcoming them as new neighbors

CHAPTER BOOKS
Aberg-Riger, Ariel (2023). America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History. HarperCollins. YA
Visual stories that illuminate the darker sides of U.S. history including immigration policy.

Backhaus, Jaclyn (2022). A New History of Immigration (True History). Penguin. History
Alternative histories of immigration amplifying the voices and stories of marginalized communities.

Bausum, Ann (2019). Denied Detained Deported: Stories from the Dark Side of American Immigration. Washington, DC: National Geographic. History
Discusses cases from across the history of immigration of denying or deporting immigrants in the U.S.

Butler, George (2021). Drawn across Borders: True Stories of Human Migration. Candlewick. NF, YA
Collection of short stories and sketches by artist George Butler based on drawings created as he interacted with refugees in camps and on the move—Middle East, Tajikistan, Eastern Europe, and Myanmar.

Caplan, Bryan (2019). Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration. Illus. Zach Weinersmith. New York: First Second. NF, GN
Makes a case for unrestricted immigration in a fact-filled graphic nonfiction.

Howard, Martin (2022). A World Full of Journeys & Migrations. Frances Lincoln. NF
The history of human migration across time and continents, told in brief illustrated vignettes.

Kim, Carol (2023). The Real History of Angel Island. Lerner. Left Out of History Series. NF
Late 1800s, Chinese people who came through the immigration center on Angel Island, facing prejudice.

Leatherdale, Mary Beth (2017). Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees. Illus. E. Shakespeare. Toronto: Annick. History
Five true stories about young people across history who lived through harrowing boat journeys as refugees.

Lee, Jen Sookfong (2021). Finding Home: The Journey of Immigrants and Refugees. Toronto: Orca. NF
Explores the origins of human migration, how it has shaped our world, and current issues facing immigrants and refugees across the world. Includes profiles of immigrants and refugees.

Nayeri, Dina (2022). Waiting Place: When Home is Lost and a New One Not Yet Found. Candelwick. Info
Ten children in the Katsikas refugee camp in Greece and their lives, dreams, and ambitions.

Nguyen, V. T. (2018). The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives. New York: Abrams. NF, Essays
Essays by prominent refugee writers from around the world to explore and illuminate their experiences.

Ortiz, Laura (2023). Walls and Welcome Mats: Immigration and the American Dream. 21st Century, Info. YA
Overview of historical and modern immigration, including contributions, backlash, and myths. Accessible.

Osborne, Linda B. (2018). This Land is Our Land: A History of American Immigration. New York: Abrams. NF
Explores government policy and popular responses to immigrant groups between 1800-1965 in the U.S.

Roge (2021). Carry On: Poetry by Young Immigrants. Owlkids. Poetry
Poetry by young immigrants to Canada on painful goodbues and uncertain beginnigns along with portraits.

Thorpe, Helen (2018). The Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship, and Hope in an American Classroom. New York: Scribner. YA, NF
Traces the lives of 22 immigrant teens in Denver as they adapt to American culture and a new language.

Tom, Paul (2023). Alone: The Journey of Three Young Refugees. Illus. Melanie Baillairge. Trans. French. Groundwood. BIO. Canada. Based on a documentary film.
The journeys of three unaccompanied children from Cambodia, Iran, and Uganda to Canada.

Vecchione, Patricia & Raymond, Alyssa (2019). Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience. New York: Seven Stories. YA, Poetry
Collection of poems by poets from around the world on the many issues facing teen refugees.

Wallace, Sandra & Rich (2018). First Generation: 36 Trailblazing Immigrants and Refugees Who Make America Great. Illus. A. Nowick. Boston: Little Brown. Bio
Celebrate the genius, diversity, and grit of immigrants and refugees to the U.S.

Yousafzai, Malala (2019). We are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls around the World. Little Brown. Bio
Survival stories of female refugees from around the world, including her own story.

Related Text Sets
Significance of Names

Brar, Kuljinder Kaur (2022). My Name is Saajin Singh. Illus. Samrath Kaur. Annick Press. RF
WHen a teacher mispronounces Saajin’s Sikh name, he struggles to reclaim his name and identity.

Choi, Yangsook (2001). The Name Jar. New York: Knopf. RF
Unhei debates whether to change her name to an American one when she moves from Korea.

Ho, Joanna (2023). Say My Name. Illus. Khoa Le. HarperCollins. RF
Six children frmo around the world proudly celebrate their names, backgrounds, and ancestors.

Kelkar, Supriya (2023). My Name. Illus. Sandhya Prabhat. Farrar. RF
When a classmate mispronounces an Indian American boy’s name, his parents remind him of how special his name is.

Lainez Colato, René (2009). René Has Two Last Names/René tiene dos apellidos. Illus. Fabiola G. Ramirez. Houston, TX: Arte Publico. RF
A boy from El Salvador helps his classmates understand a Latinx cultural tradition with names.

Lam, Thao (2021). Thao. Charlesbridge. RF
Thao is tired for hearing her name mispronounced all the time and decides to call herself Jennifer.

Martinez-Neal, Juana. (2018). Alma and How She Got Her Name. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. RF
When Alma complains about her long name, her father tells the story of her names and Peruvian heritage.

Namir, Hasan (2023). Banana Dream. Illus. Daby Z. Faidhi. RF
Mooz dislikes his name which means “banana,” until he learns the story behind his name. Set in Iraq.

Ogburn, Jacqueline (2011). Little Treasures: Endearments from Around the World. Illus. Chris Raschka. New York: Houghton Mifflin. NF
Shares terms of endearments parents use to express love to children in fourteen different languages.

Parappukkaran, Sandhya (2022). The Boy who Tried to Shrink His Name. Illus. Michelle Pereira. Abrams. RF
A boy with a long name decides to shorten his name when he goes to a new school, but it doesn’t feel right.

Recorvits, Helen (2003). My Name is Yoon. Illus. Gabriela Swiatkowska. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. RF
Yoon dislikes how her name is written in English, compared to the beauty of her name in Korean.

Syed, Anoosha (2022). That’s Not My Name! Penguin. RF
Mirha is eager to meet new classmates, but they pronounce her name wrong. Does she need a new name?

Thompkins-Bigelow, Jamilah (2020). Your Name is a Song. Illus. Louisa Uribe. Innovation Press. RF
A young girl does not want to return to school because no one can pronounce her name.

Williams, Karen & Mohammed, Khadra (2009). My Name is Sangoel. Illus. Catherine Stock. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. RF
Sangoel is proud of his Sudanese name but no one in his school in the U.S. can correctly pronounce it.

Walls and Borders

Agee, Jon (2018). The Wall in the Middle of the Book. New York: Dial. Fantasy
A foolish knight is certain that his side of the wall is the safe side; wall is in the gutter of the book.

Barroux (2022). Free. Owlkids. RF
A wagon of caged birds is stopped at the border until Paloma comes up with a creative solution.

Basil, Krystia (2020). A Sky without Lines. Illus. Laura Borrās. Hong Kong: Miniedition. RF
Arturo’s family is separated by a line, so he dreams of flying through the open sky, free of barriers.

Buitrago, Jairo (2015). Two White Rabbits. Groundwood. RF
A girl and her father travel at great danger through Mexico, until they reach a wall.

Cole, Tom C. (2014). Wall. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. HF
A boy and his family try to reunite with his father caught on the other side of the Berlin Wall.

Collard, Sneed (2023). Border Crossings. Illus. Howard Gray. Charlsebridge. RF
Two endangered ocelots attempt to cross the border but face the catastrophic obstacle of the wall.

Dumont, Jean-Louise (2020). The Chickens Build a Wall. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. Trans French. Fantasy.
The chickens build a huge wall to keep out the “prickly invaders,” actually a friendly hedgehog.

Foreman, Michael (2008). A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope. Somerville, MA: Candewick. RF
A war-ravaged country is separated by a wire fence from the streams and hills of peace and privilege.

Fulton, Kristen (2020). Flight for Freedom. Illus. Torben Kulhmann. San Francisco: Chronicle. HF
The true story of a family who escaped across the wall in Berlin in a hot air balloon.

Galbraith, Bree (2020). Usha and the Stolen Sun. Illus. Josee Bisaillon. Owlkids. Fantasy
A South Asian child finds a way to take down the wall the keeps the sun from reaching her village.

Giuliano, Ferri (2016). Brick by Brick. Hong Kong: Miniedition. Fantasy
Animals take down the wall that divides them to construct a bridge that joins their islands.

Hau, Kerstin (2019). The Dark and the Light. Illus. Julie Volk. NorthSouth Books. Trans. German. Fantasy
Two lonely creatures live in lands of either darkness or light until one day they meet at the border.

Hernandez, Glenn (2020). Mr. Pig’s Big Wall. New York: Random. Fantasy
Pig builds a wall to keep Tortoise from bothering him, but traps himself inside, keeping out the sun.

Jones, Stella (2020). The Only Way is Badger. Illus. Carmen Saldaña. Wilton, CN: Tiger Tales.
Badger has built a wall in the forest, sending anyone who can’t do badger things to the other side.

Juarez, Estele (2022). Until Someone Listens. Illus. Terest Martinez. Roaring Brook. Memoir.
Estela writes letters to everyone, even the president, when her mother is deported. True story.

Knight, Margy (2014). Talking Walls: Discover Your World. Illus. Anne S. O’Brien. Tilbury House. NF
A description of walls around the world, from the Great Wall of China to the Berlin Wall.

Lam, Thao (2022). The Line in the Sand. Owlkids. VN, FAN
A monster drags a stick on the beach, creating a line that becomes a point of tension for others.

Lee, Uk-Bae (2019). When Spring Comes to the DMZ. Plough. Trans. Korean. RF
Grandfather yearly visits the demilitarized zone, a barrier separating families in North and Sourth Korea.

Lionni, Leo (2014). Tillie and the Wall. Dragonfly Books. Fable
Tillie is curious about the wall that has always been in their world and what lies on the other side.

Macri, Giancarto (2019). The Wall: A Timeless Tale. Illus. Sacco. Happy Fox. Translated Italy. Fantasy
A king banishes anyone who differs from him and builds a wall to keep them out. Cutouts create a wall.

Martins, Isabel Minhos (2016). Don’t Cross the Line! Illus. Bernardo Carvalho. NZ: Gecko. Trans. Portuguese. Fantasy
A guard follows orders without question, not allowing anyone to cross the line, then a ball bounces across.

Meza, Erika (2023). To the Other Side. HarperCollins. FAN.
A girl reframes the dangerous border crossing between Mexico/US as games to help her brother.

Morales, Yuyi (2021). Bright Star. Holiday house. RF
Depicts the ways in which the wall impacts plants, animals, and people crossing the desert.

Perkins, Mitali (2019). Between Us And Abuela: A Family Story From The Border. Illus. Sara Palacios. New York: Farrar. RF
Maria and her family search for a way to send their gifts across the border wall to their Abuela in Mexico.

Santamaria, Sandy (2023). Yenebi’s Drive to School. Chronicle. RF
Every day, Yenebi’s mother drives her across the border for two horus to get to school. Spanish ed.

Siers, Sophie (2019). Dear Mr. President. Illus. Anne Villeneuve. Toronto: Owlkids. RF
Sam decides to build a wall in his bedroom to keep out his brother after hearing about the border wall.

Sis, Peter (2007). The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. New York: Farrar. Autobiography
Sis describes life in Czechoslovakia under Soviet rule, the loss of freedom, and his escape to the West.

Solis, Nicholas (2022). My Town/Mi pueblo. Nancy Paulson. RF
Cousins from opposite sides of the U.S./Mexico border visit each other’s towns. Bilingual.

Tallec, Olivier (2012). Waterloo & Tragalgar. Enchangted Lion. FAN, VN
Visual images of two men, separated by walls, engaged in a cold war until they come face-to-face.

Teckentrup, Britta. (2018). Little Mouse and the Red Wall. New York: Orchard. FN. Translated from German.
A mouse wonders what lies beyond the Red Wall, but his friends are too afraid to travel to the unknown.

Underwood, Deborah (2020). Every Little Letter. Illus. Joy Hwang Ruiz. New York: Dial. FN
Walls built by big letters keep out other letters, until the little letters find ways to scale the walls.

White, Dianne (2020). Sometimes a Wall…. Illus. Barroux. Owlkids. RF
Children on a playground build walls that exclude and walls that invite others into play.

Winter, Jonah. (2020). Welcome to Bobville: City of Bobs. Illus. Bob Staake. New York: Random. FN
In Bobville, all the Bobs are the same, but when one Bob feels different, the community builds a wall to keep him out.

Woodson, Jacqueline (2001). The Other Side. Illus. E. B. Lewis. New York: Putnam’s. HF
A fence divides two neighborhoods based on race, during the time of segregation in the U.S.

Key

Bio = Biography
GN = Graphic Novel
HF = Historical Fiction
NF = Nonfiction
NV = Novel in Verse
RF = Realistic Fiction
VN = Visual Narrative (wordless book)
YA = Young Adult