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Refugee Boy

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Book Synopsis

The personal, funny and poignant tale of a young refugee, from acclaimed storyteller Benjamin Zephaniah

Acclaimed performance poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah’s honest, wry and poignant story of a young refugee left in London is of even more power and pertinence today than when it was first published.

Life is not safe for Alem. His father is Ethopian, his mother Eritrean. Their countries are at war, and Alem is welcome in neither place.

So Alem is excited to spend a holiday in London with his father – until he wakes up to find him gone. What seems like a betrayal is in fact an act of love, but now Alem is alone in a strange country, and he must forge his own path…

Our Review Panel says...

Benjamin Zephaniah’s Refugee Boy is poignant and memorable. Lower secondary school readers looking for the next step on after Windrush Child or The Boy at the Back of the Class will feel drawn to this moving account of one boy’s refugee experience.

The story follows a boy called Alem. With war raging in his parents’ homelands of Ethiopia and Eritrea, Alem’s father takes him to London to seek asylum. Suddenly alone in a strange land, Alem faces the daunting task of building a new life. Zephaniah’s narrative vividly captures Alem’s challenges and the difficult realities faced by child refugees, as well as warmly capturing the grit and courage of the central character’s personality as he adapts to a new culture while seeking safety.

Though it doesn’t shy away from the harsh truths, Refugee Boy is ultimately a story of resilience and human kindness. In places the narrative is witty and wry – in others emotional and raw – and many readers will enjoy this balance.

This powerful book offers a moving insight into the refugee experience, drawing readers’ attention to the courage needed to navigate life’s losses and forge a new future.