Inside Out & Back Again

Inside Out & Back Again
By Thanhha Lai

This is a beautiful story, in verse, of coming to the United States from Vietnam just at the end of the war, in 1975.
Ten-year-old Ha, along with her mom and three brothers, flees Saigon and survives a harrowing boat ride--eventually ending up in Alabama. There, she struggles to be included in school and learn English while suffering the intolerance and racism of many neighbors and schoolmates.
Stepping into Ha's shoes, we can understand how it feels to have to start over from scratch, leave one home behind and build another, and the power of kindness and compassion.

Refugee

Refugee
By Alan Gratz

We hear a lot about refugees in the news--all over the world people choose to leave their homes or are forced from their homes because of war and other violence, unfair government, religious beliefs, or ethnicity.
In Refugee, Alan Gratz tells the stories of three children and their families: Josef, fleeing from Nazi Germany in the 1930s; Isabel, fleeing Cuba in 1994; and Mahmoud, fleeing Syria in 2015. Each of the journeys is dangerous and terrifying, heartbreaking and true-to-life.
Although the three main characters live in different time periods in history and travel in separate parts of the world, their alternating stories overlap in surprising ways.
Get ready to read this powerful book quickly, because it is hard to put down. And get ready to have a fuller understanding of what people are able to endure and overcome, everyday. 

The Arrival

The Arrival is told purely through pictures--no words at all. The illustrations, as usual, are captivating, whimsical, and full of wild details. This is the story of one man who leaves his wife and little daughter to seek out a better life in a new place...the settings are fantastical, with creepy beasts and other threats, and bizarre contraptions for traveling, and everyday use. The man must make his way through this strange new "city", and luckily he meets some other immigrants who help him out. They tell their own stories of arrival. Finally, the man has enough money to send to his family in a "letter," and he waits for their arrival...This graphic novel really blew me away, I have to say. It is beautiful.

The Arrival By Shaun Tan
I just love Shaun Tan's books. And this one is really brilliant.