What This Book Is About
Three children. Three countries. Three decades. One desperate mission: escape.
Josef is a twelve-year-old Jewish boy in 1938 Nazi Germany. With his family, he boards the MS St. Louis, a ship bound for Cuba that promises safety from the concentration camps. Isabel is an eleven-year-old Cuban girl in 1994, fleeing Havana on a makeshift raft during the country's worst economic crisis, hoping to reach Florida before the U.S. Coast Guard catches them. Mahmoud is a twelve-year-old Syrian boy in 2015, whose apartment in Aleppo is destroyed by a barrel bomb, forcing his family on a harrowing overland journey toward Germany.
Alan Gratz alternates between these three stories with cinematic precision—short, punchy chapters that end on cliffhangers, propelling readers forward at breakneck speed. Each child faces drownings, betrayals, family separation, and impossible choices. But what makes Refugee extraordinary is its ending: the three storylines, separated by continents and decades, converge in a connection so unexpected and devastating that it reframes everything the reader thought they knew. A number one New York Times bestseller for over four years, Refugee is the rare book that is both a page-turner and a deeply important work of empathy.
Available at Popular bookstores, Kinokuniya, and the Singapore National Library.
Why UWC Chose This Book
In a school where students arrive from dozens of countries—many having experienced displacement themselves—Refugee is not abstract history but lived reality. The novel's three-timeline structure shows students that the refugee experience is not unique to one place or era; it is a recurring human story that demands empathy and action in every generation.
Gratz's accessible, high-tension prose is also strategically important for reluctant readers. The short chapters and constant cliffhangers hook students who might otherwise disengage from historical fiction, while the interconnected ending rewards careful reading and teaches narrative structure at a sophisticated level. It is one of the most checked-out books in UWC's library system.
Reading Level Guide
Too challenging at A2. Build up through B1 novels like Holes or Ghost Boys.
The sweet spot. A rewarding challenge for strong B1 readers; comfortable for B2.
A fast read at C1 but the emotional impact is undiminished at any level.
Other UWC Recommended Books for This Grade
Not sure if this book is right for your child? Take our free 30-minute English assessment to find their CEFR level, then choose books that match.