ENG 250 Literature And Digital Culture

Refugee by Alan Gratz is a book that talks about the horror of the history. The author is known to write for children, however, he is not afraid to present the dark history for his audience. Refugee is about the group of people who were oppressed just because they belonged to a certain community and religion. The book is about three innocent kids fighting for freedom. The book revolves around- Nazi Germany, Cuba 1990s, and modern day Syria. The author brilliantly showed what it was and is like to live as an oppressed group (Gratz). Using character and conflict, Alan Gratz developed the theme of responsibility and empathy for cruelty and injustice.

The first story addresses the horrors faced by Jewish by Nazis and the author has done full justification for the Jewish. Josef and his family, who are Jewish, are prohibited to practice their religion by Nazis. Aaron, Josef’s father, was sent to concentration camp because he was caught practicing his religion. “Two of the Nazis yanked Josef’s father to his feet and dragged him towards the door” (Gratz), with this single line only Alan Gratz managed to show the trauma Josef had to go through just because he belonged to a certain community. Josef, at an early age, had to take charge of the family; he lost his childhood to the cruelty of Nazis. Alan Gratz wrote Refugee because he wanted children to discuss real world. Alan Gratz was born in Tennessee, which is known as an emerging area for Jewish. His childhood was surrounded with cultural activities of Jewish and that could have been a driving factor for him to write an honest story about Jewish community.

Through Isabel’s story, the author showed the struggles of Cuba. Isabel is running out of money and food and they had decided to escape, however, when they reach Bahamas they were not allowed to enter the land.The author wanted his readers to realize that ‘we all exist with some struggles, the actual living happens when we decide to face those struggles’, putting this thought in his young readers’ minds is one way the author has contributed in ensuring the bright future of the future generation. Alan Gratz has managed to create an ambiance of Syria during the war fairly, even though the story is fictional, the roots of the story are based on reality, and the author honestly presented us the terrifying roots of the history. The author got the idea for this story when he went on a vacation to Florida, where he saw a homemade raft, wet clothes; signs that showed someone came here risking their life to seek refuge.  It was an eye opener for him, and made him realize that there are things we take for granted which is a luxury for others (Grochowski).

The author developed Mahmoud’s theme using elements of conflict and character. Alan Gratz, in 2010, went to Japan for work purposes; he met an old man there who was a kid during the Okinawa Battle. The old man told him about the trauma they had to go through when Americans invaded the island of Okinawa. ‘Become invisible to survive’, is the motto Mahmoud followed when Syria was going through a civil war. After his house was attacked, he and his family fled to Germany to seek refuge. But his journey was filled with traumas and evils of the war. The author wanted his readers to develop empathy towards those who suffered just because they belonged to an oppressed community, country or religion. The author was successful in his mission as the readers did receive an insight into the hell people went through. Alan Gratz successfully wrote unbiased stories for his readers. The book was released in 2017, which gave Alan time to write about Isabel’s fleeing story in Florida. The author wanted to show children that the world is filled with bad guys, good guys and dirty politics ("Frequently Asked Questions - Alan Gratz").

Works Cited

"Frequently Asked Questions - Alan Gratz". Alan Gratz, 2022, https://www.alangratz.com/frequently-asked-questions/. Accessed 7 Feb 2022.

Gratz, Alan. "Refugee - Alan Gratz". Alan Gratz, 2022, https://www.alangratz.com/writing/refugee/. Accessed 7 Feb 2022.

Gratz, Alan. Refugee. Scholastic, 2015.Print.

Grochowski, Sara. "Q & A With Alan Gratz". Publishersweekly.Com, 2018, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/78345-q-a-with-alan-gratz.html. Accessed 7 Feb 2018.