The book I read for this month is Refugee by Alan Gratz. Refugee isn’t a normal novel, though. It has three separate story’s about the characters struggles in undesirable situations. The 1st of these stories is about a Jewish boy named Josef in the 1940s. After their father is taken to concentration camps, they are given the opportunity to leave Germany with their father. They leave on a cruise ship for Cuba, but while on the ship they realize that their father isn’t the same. The second story is a boy in Syria named Mahmoud and his family escaping Syria after their house got struck by a missile. The goal to find a home had many roadblocks and crossing many countries. The third story is about a Cuban girl named Isabel. Her home country, Cuba, was getting lots of protests. Because of this, Cuba allowed people to legally leave via boat. So Isabel, her family, and her friend Lito’s family. They come across many challenges as sharks, oncoming boats, and the US coast guard. The reason this book is good is because it has three stories. If one story is slow or boring, the next chapter will move on to the next. My favorite character is Josef. I like him because he is Jewish, and I am also Jewish. He just became a bar-mitzvah, like me. My favorite quote from him is, “I am the man in the room now.” Which shows bar-mitzvahs show that you are a man. My favorite quote in the book comes from Isabel’s grandfather, “We’ll let you in mañana.” If I explained this quote it would spoil the plot, but it connects Isabel’s and Josef’s stories.
