IN SEARCH OF A NEW HOME

The refugee crisis around the world has been featured in the news a great deal recently and Rosemary McCarney's nonfiction picture book Where Will I Live? is a moving and important introduction for readers who still might be a bit too young to understand all the nuances of this complex and timely topic.

McCarney boils this intricate issue down to the basics with simple text beginning "...When Soldiers fight or danger comes families must pack their things and search for a new place to live." It features stirring and poignant photographs of refugee children and families all over the world--from Hungary to Rwanda, Lebanon to Greece, and beyond--who have been displaced from their homes and cities and countries and are looking for a new place to belong. In portraying the moments of sadness and dire need as well as moments of forming bonds of fellowship even in such harrowing circumstances, McCarney shows just how much human beings have in common and how the need--not just for shelter, but for community--is universal no matter where in the world someone is born.

This precursory resource on refugees is both poignant and topical, and should prove useful as an introduction to this current worldwide issue for children in kindergarten through second grade. In order to further supplement this simple nonfiction picture book with more concrete information, look for more detailed and complex resources in our children's nonfiction section.

A FARAWAY ISLAND

This is a thoughtful story about two young Jewish sisters from Vienna, twelve-year old Stephie and her eight-year old sister, Nellie.

During WWII, Stephie and Nellie were separated from their parents who sent them away to an island near Sweden to escape from the Nazis during the war. The sisters expect to stay in there for about 6 months until they can reunite again with their parents in America. Unfortunately, they were separated upon arrival to the island. Nellie stays with a foster family that really cares for her. She has many friends and becomes adapted to the Swedish culture. Stephie on the other hand, has a miserable life. Her foster mother is a cold woman, she has no friends and is constantly bullied at school. She is very jealous of her younger sister. During this journey of being distant from her family, she wonders to herself if she will ever see her parents again. The sadness of familiar separation and the barbarity of Hitler is well expressed telling the story of Jewish children during World War II in Europe.

LEAVING THE GLORYTOWN: ONE BOY’S STRUGGLE UNDER CASTRO

As a very young child, Eduardo Calcines had the good fortune of living in a small community in the town of Cienfuegos, Cuba, with loving parents and grandparents, close friends and economic security. However, all this changed in 1959 when Fidel Castro became prime minister of Cuba. Castro’s regime gradually took away almost all luxuries, many basic needs and even some fundamental human rights that people had enjoyed in Cuba before the Revolution. Hunger, fear and isolation became ways of life, particularly for families who did not join the Communist party and instead applied for exit visas to leave Cuba for the United States. Viewed as worms and traitors, Eduardo and his family lived through a series of tribulations and grievances while they waited to get selected by the Cuban immigration to leave the country. Eleven years passed before Eduardo and his family finally arrived to the United States.
This excellent memory will help readers to understand the struggles that people experienced under Castro’s leadership and the opportunities that come with freedom.
For readers ages 12-14. Grades 7-9. Written by Eduardo F. Calcines.