Refugees (Hardcover)

by Catherine Stine (Author) "The marina-style house up ahead, with its crud-brown roof tiles and tiny concrete yard painted green to simulate grass, never failed to fill Dawn with..." (more)
Key Phrases: ration tickets, sat phone, New York, Trade Center, San Francisco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–This novel is presented in parallel, first-person accounts (or story lines) that begin prior to September 11, 2001, and culminate some months later. Dawn is a runaway from California headed for New York City. She is resentful of her foster mother, a doctor with the Red Cross who is helping in a refugee camp near Pakistan. Johar, 15, lives in Afghanistan. Many of his relatives are dead. His aunt, a teacher, has disappeared. The Taliban has taken his brother, and Johar is left to care for his three-year-old cousin. He flees to escape the danger. The days tick by to September 11th, when Dawn arrives in New York, and everyday life in America shifts. The teens' lives unfold in alternating chapters, and the contrast between their daily experiences is huge. Dawn, a gifted musician, panhandles on the street and, later, plays her flute for mourners at ground zero. She lands a nice place to stay as she cat-sits for a traveling journalist and jams with a hunky rock star. In sharp contrast, Johar's life is dire, tough, and eerily credible. Torturing, mutilating, and killing are the rule. He makes it to the refugee camp where Dawn's mother is working. The teens develop an e-mail friendship, which seems too predetermined and artificial. Much of the plot, particularly the elements that revolve around Dawn, is just too implausible. The contrived ending is unrealistic and disappointing.–Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY

From Booklist
Gr. 9-12. The "refugees" in Stine's powerful first novel for young adults (see adjacent Story behind the Story) are teens who flee deprivation and conflict as disparate as their countries. Sixteen-year-old Dawn is unhappy in California with foster parents Louise and Victor. After Louise leaves for Afghanistan to work as a refugee-camp doctor, Dawn runs away with her best friend, Jude, a gay teen. They land in New York City, and two days later, on September 11, terrorists attack the World Trade Center. Across the world, Afghan teen Johar has escaped his village and found safety in a Pakistani refugee camp, where he lands a job at Louise's clinic. Then Dawn tries to contact Louise, and Johar answers the phone. In phone calls and e-mails, the teens share their stories, and through their love of music and poetry, they help each other find the hope and courage to move forward. In vivid, alternating chapters Stine follows the teens' flights and tense struggles to cope with the tragedies of the attacks, rebuild their families, and discover their own strengths. Not all the characters in the crowded narrative are developed; Victor, in particular, is a puzzling shadow. Still, Stine tells an ambitious, haunting story that asks urgent questions about current conflicts, the human lives behind the headlines, and the healing that must follow. Afterwords about post-9/11 Afghanistan and New York City close this timely, accomplished novel that teachers and teens will want to discuss together. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (February 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385731795
• ISBN-13: 978-0385731799
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #493,846 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spellbinding story explores essential values, March 2, 2005

By	Kanta Bosniak "Minister of Art" (Wernersville, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Refugees (Library Binding)

When our son was young, we greatly valued books we could enjoy ourselves as we read to him. Refugees, by Catherine Stine is a Young Adult book that can be enjoyed by any parent or teacher and used as a jumping off-point for study and discussion. We found ourselves completely spellbound as the of adventure unfolded.

The story is well-researched and beautifully written. Readers will find it satisfies the intellect and emotions at once as it is both educationally nourishing and a suspenseful page-turner. It follows two teens, an Afganistani boy and an American girl through the life-transforming time of 9/11. It explores cultural values, alternatives to violence, and examines how we define such things as bravery and family.

We most highly recommend this book, especially at this time, when compassionate communication, empathy and widening perspectives are crucial.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refugees, April 8, 2005

By	Constance Kirk (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Refugees (Library Binding)

Refugees - an excellent read, indeed. The story is touching, suspenseful, and filled with an impressive knowledge base of the history of Afghanistan. More to the point, the timing of such a book is crucial. The complex, political weave manifests itself beautifully within Johar's internal process, and parallels Dawn's awakening with soulful authenticity. Three cheers for Stine's ability to craft a story of hope in this fractured world.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful storytelling, February 17, 2005

By	Scotty Ballantine (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Refugees (Library Binding)

This book was really new and different. Captivating. A fast read. I could not put it down. It is hard to believe that it's fiction. I don't want to give away the ending, but the two character's stories are so intricately woven yet they don't know each other. I saw it at a book fair and picked it up, now I'm ordering Refugees for my friend's daughter, who is 16. I also recommend it for adults. Really great, very moving and thoughtful. When I think about it, it hits me... we're all refugees one way or another.