Refugee

This is another book that hooked me as I was skimming it to write a booktalk for it. The shifting narration is really compelling, and I really appreciate the way so explicitly Gratz connects Cuban and Syrian refugees to Jewish refugees in WWII–refugees who most people today feel extremely sympathetic to in a way that a) a lot of Americans in the 1930s didn't b) a lot of Americans today don't feel toward other refugees.

It's a book that's well-meaning and compelling–at times some of the individual events seem a bit contrived but the overall effect is good, and the way the stories intersect with each other is very surprising and moving. Recommended to young readers who love WWII stories and survival stories.