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Refugee

Alan Gratz

Three children, three different times, one hope of escape. Josef flees Nazi Germany on a ship in 1938, Isabel sets out from Cuba on a homemade boat in 1994, and Mahmoud leaves war-torn Syria with his family in 2015. Each of them must find a way to survive a dangerous journey to safety.

Length
About 85,000 words
To read it
About 57 days
Stage
Key Stage 3

Reading time at 1,500 words a day, the pace we start from until we know your child’s own.

Where it is taught

Why Refugee is on the list

  • Year 8, Core. The books most schools teach in this year. A good place to start.

Reading it here

What your child does with it

  1. 1

    Choose it and set a finish date

    You get a suggested target from the length of the book and your child's reading pace.

  2. 2

    Check in along the way

    A longer book has short check-ins every week or two, so it keeps moving and nothing is forgotten.

  3. 3

    Answer two questions

    When they finish: a review of the book, and a deeper question about how it works.

  4. 4

    Get it marked, and redraft

    Every answer is marked against the rubric for their year, with a reason for every score.