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Book Report On Refugees By Alan Gratz

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Imagine not having a safe spot. A place where you don't feel protected. A place where you're not frightened. A place where you're not scared of dying if you don't leave immediately. In Refugee by Alan Gratz three characters are refugees in different times, going through the same experience of fleeing the life they knew. The 1930’s: Josef, a Jewish boy living through the Holocaust, must flee Germany on a ship headed to Cuba. 1994: Isabel, a Cuban girl living through riots and protests, flees Cuba on a makeshift boat after the Soviet Union collapsed. 2015: Mahmoud, a Syrian boy living through the Syrian Civil War, must leave Syria with his family after his home is bombed. All three of these realistic characters are experiencing the same journey, …show more content…

My goal that hour was to find a book I could read for pleasure and actually like. Disclaimer: I usually don't find books I like. As a reader, I’m very interested in anything that involves the world and culture in some way. As I was looking I remembered we saw a trailer for a book, Refugee, and it was quite intriguing. So, I found it, and picked up the book and brought it to the register, because it was sold out they had to order me a new one. The book itself isn't very long, but it took me a while to read. I’m a very slow reader and sometimes have to re-read pages because I forget. Anyway, once I started reading I loved it. It made me interested in learning about different struggles countries were and are facing, but another reason is that I could relate to this book a lot. My parents are from Syria, and my family that didn't move to Lebanon or America are currently still living in Syria. Although nothing has happened to them (thank God), I still am worried about them and their safety. So, reading this book really touched my heart in a way where I can relate somehow. But, I hope I will never have to experience what refugees have and even caring for them, I don't know half of what they went …show more content…

You don't find this type of historical book interesting very often, but this one was. Everyone who I know has read or is currently reading it agrees. Learning and discovering different perspectives and stories that are sad but exciting are what made me continue reading this book. I never got bored of the book. There was never a dull moment. Somewhere in a span of 2 pages, there would be a problem, or something bad would happen. It kind of felt like a mystery to me. I would try and think, with all the things that have happened are they going to make it to their destination. Are they going to get to Florida, Greece, or Cuba? Also, now knowing in detail what people in the 1900’s and now are facing makes me feel educated in a way, which I like. Reading what sacrifices these characters and their families had to do to survive really moved me in a way a book hasn't done to

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