Leatherdale crafts a narrative about the lives of five different refugee youth from the last century. Featured in the book are Ruth from Germany, Phu from Vietnam, Jose from Cuba, Najeeba from Afghanistan, and Mohamed from the Ivory Coast. There is plenty of background information regarding each refugee's situation. Despite each refugee being from a different cultural background, there are many similarities in their stories. Leatherdale begins the book with Ruth leaving Nazi Germany because she is Jewish. Starting that way makes the story stronger, as it is a sad, but very well known wrong in world history. It continues on to more current stories, which makes me realize that such tragedy still happens in our world.
With the refugee crisis a current political issue, this book should be required reading in any social studies class. Anyone who knows a refugee would find this worth reading as well.
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