Refugee is both historical and contemporary realistic fiction. Refugee is definitely my suggestion for anyone looking to add a fresh novel to their ELA curriculum. The 8th graders (my students) read Refugeeby Alan Gratz and welcomed the author to our school.

This past year the 11th graders read How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana with a visit from the author. We have been fortunate in my district, to be able to provide visiting authors for our 8th and 11th-grade students for the past number of years. I am a big believer in the power of books to change hearts and minds, so my suggestions lean toward YA literature that is high interest, but also deals with timely issues.

It's summer vacation which means that most of the Secondary ELA groups I am in on social media are full of teachers asking for recommendations for books to add to their curricula.

Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts.

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course.

And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end.This action-packed novel tackles topics both timely and timeless: courage, survival, and the quest for home. But there is always the hope of tomorrow. All will face unimaginable dangers - from drownings to bombings to betrayals. All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world. JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. Continue reading.Īlso by this author: Ban This Book, Two Degrees In 2015, Mahmoud Bishara and his family run from their bombed-out home in Aleppo, Syria toward the Turkish border, hoping to cross more than half a dozen countries to a new life in Germany. In 1994, during the “special period” of deprivation following the collapse of Cuba’s benefactor, the Soviet Union, Isabel Fernandez and her family, including her pregnant mother, join their neighbors in a leaky boat headed for Florida. Louis, a German ship filled with desperate Jews escaping from Nazi Germany. Josef Landau turns 13 and celebrates his Bar Mitzvah on the St.

Ban this book a novel by alan gratz