Refugees in Literature
Refugees in Literature is a carefully curated collection of stand out titles by and about refugees for grades K-12, accompanied by classroom guides, created with the help of a volunteer team of educators. Bringing Refugees in Literature into schools and libraries offers opportunities for conversations and critical thinking, to help children discover truths about refugees and their journeys. The compelling message is that refugees are just like all of us: people in search of a safe place to live. We hope that this thoughtfully curated list will help correct misperceptions that lead to intolerance and prejudice, and will instill in these future citizens of the world empathy and respect for all people.
For Further Adult Reading on the Refugee Experience see our “bookshelf” on Goodreads !
With an unprecedented number of refugee stories populating bookshelves these days, there are so many more opportunities to learn, to understand the crisis and come to know these stories of need and hope. On our bookshelf are books by and about refugees, fiction and non-fiction, graphic novels and even poetry. There are stories from Syria and Sudan, Iran and Italy. We would like to believe that the more informed we are, the more discussions we have, the greater chance of our becoming part of the solution to the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time.
We hope you enjoy these books as much as we have.
Featured Books
Our friend and fellow refugee welcomer, Jessica Goudeau, shares the story of two refugee families and their hope and resilience as they fight to survive and belong in America.
Jessica Goudeau
Heartbreak and hope exist together in this remarkable graphic novel about growing up in a refugee camp, as told by a Somali refugee to the Newbery Honor-winning creator of Roller Girl.
By Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed
Featured Essay
Hunger
by Salar Abdoh
An essay on immigrating to the U.S. as a teen. Salar Abdoh explores hunger, liminality, and becoming a writer in Los Angeles and New York. The narrator experiences the U.S. as "a glass display where I could not reach what was on the other side."
