Refugee by Alan Gratz

This book made my heart ache. 

I have been recommending it to all my fifth grade teachers as we have come back to school this year. It is an absolutely wrenching story of three 11-12 year old kids who are refugees at different points in time, but their stories still intertwine with each other.

The point of view rotates each chapter with a different child: Josef is escaping Nazi Germany with his family in the 1930's, Isabel is escaping Cuba with her family in the 1990's, and Mahmoud and his family are running from Syria in 2015.

It is a tough story to hear how hard life is for a refugee.  I was impressed how Mr. Gratz mangaged to share this story with only 2 curse words that I caught in the whole book.  It is sad, but there is joy in it.  There are characters who don't make it, but there is hope at the end.  And the end is more of a beginning because you realize this is someone's story right now.