refugees

Finding Papa

Sophie Rosen , ,

Krans, Angela Pham. Finding Papa. New York: Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2023.
After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, thousands of people tried to escape their devastated country. Setting out on boats into the unknown, they hoped for a better life in a new place. Some survived. This picture book – illustrated by a Caldecott Honor winner – is the story of one such family, a mother and daughter trying to reach America. Based on the author’s own childhood experience, this powerful picture book – well-suited to reading aloud – is recommended for children 6 to 11 years old.

Another story about the Vietnamese “boat people”

A true story about Vietnam

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The Carpet

Sophie Rosen , , ,

Azaad, Dezh. The Carpet: An Afghan Family Story. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2023.

A refugee child describes all the ways the family gathers around their treasured carpet. They prepare food together, share meals together, read books, play games, remember the life they had long ago, and dream of the life they will have in a new land. Written by an Afghan refugee who lives in Germany and illustrated by a New York City artist, this colourful picture book is recommended as a read-aloud for children five to nine years old. 

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Village of Scoundrels

Sophie Rosen , , , , ,

Preus, Margi. Village of Scoundrels: Based on a True Story of Courage during WWII. New York: Amulet Books, 2021.

During World War 2, brave villagers in Les Lauzes, France shelter refugees and the people leading them to safety in Switzerland. This quickly-paced novel does not hide the brutality of the Nazi occupiers. Danger is ever present. But there is also humour and joy and hope among the children and young adults setting out to fool the German Gestapo. Includes an epilogue with photographs and biographies of what happened to the real people in the story. Highly recommended for readers 11 to 14 years of age. 

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Chance

Sophie Rosen , ,

Shulevitz, Uri. Chance: Escape from the Holocaust. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2020.
Uri Shulevitz is a master storyteller and artist. Anything he writes is worth reading. Anything he draws is worth viewing. In Chance, we discover the story of his childhood from the age of four – when bombs started dropping on Warsaw – to fourteen – when he and his parents emigrated to Israel. In between, they endured internment in a Soviet settlement, poverty in the southern republic of Turkestan, and ostracism in France. Nowhere was safe. Black-and-white illustrations help tell the story of a human spirit surviving in the face of persecution. Despite the large print and wide margins, though, this 329-page book is not recommended for readers in early grades. Some of the details are too heartbreaking. Instead, Chance is highly recommended for readers 11 years old and up. Even adults.

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Nicky & Vera

Sophie Rosen , , , ,

Sis, Peter. Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2021.
Twenty-nine-year-old Nicholas Winton saved almost 700 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1938. Ten-year-old Vera was one of those children. Written and illustrated by the inimitable Peter Sis, this true story describes the astonishingly daring rescue during the war and the unexpected reunion fifty years later. Accompanied by an extensive afterward, this picture book is highly recommended for readers eight years old and up.

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Nowhere Boy

Sophie Rosen , , , ,

Marsh, Katherine. Nowhere Boy. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2018.

Thirteen-year-old Max is not happy when his family moves from Washington, D.C. to Brussels, Belgium for a year. He is even less pleased when he has to attend a local school with instruction all in French. Worse yet, he has to repeat the sixth grade. But life changes when Max discovers a fourteen-year-old refugee, Ahmed, hiding in the basement. Told from alternating points-of-view, this 362-page suspenseful novel – set in the days following the 2016 Paris bombings – provides a heart-rending yet hopeful picture of life for survivors of war. Highly recommended for readers 11 years old and up. 

Learn the true history behind this fascinating novel!

More stories set in Europe 

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Dark Hours

Sophie Rosen ,

Pausewang, Gudrun. Dark Hours. Toronto: Annick Press, 2006.
Sixteen-year-old Gisel and her younger siblings flee Russian soldiers during a cold winter in World War 2. Trapped underground after an air raid, Gisel calls on all her courage and ingenuity to enable them to survive. Brilliantly written by an award-winning German author and translated by John Brownjohn, this young adult novel is highly recommended for competent readers 12 years old and up.

More stories of World War 2

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