Diversity matters. Representation matters. Part of the reason we read is to build empathy and understanding. We try to see what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes. But we also love seeing when someone like us is in the books we love. Here are some books about refugees and their stories.
- The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya
Genre: Nonfiction Memoir
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.19
Clemantine was six years old in 1994 Rwanda, when many were about to be murdered or displaced. Clemantine and her fifteen-year-old sister, Claire, fled and spent six years traveling from one refugee camp to the next across the African continent. When she was twelve, Clemantine and her sister were granted asylum in the United States which brought a whole new series of challenges.
- She Weeps Each Time You’re Born by Quan Barry
Genre: Historical Fiction
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.69
At the peak of the Vietnam War, Rabbit is born along the Song Ma River. Rabbit will travel from her destroyed village with a makeshift family thrown together by war. But Rabbit has a special gift: she can hear the dead, allowing the reader to see a history of Vietnam and how the war ravaged the country.
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Genre: Historical Fiction
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.18
Joe Kavalier, a young artist who studied Houdini escapes, just smuggled himself out of Nazi Poland and landed in NYC. His Brooklyn-located cousin Clay is looking for a partner to create the latest novelty: a comic book.
- The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter
Genre: Historical Fiction
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.36
Naima only knows Algeria from her grandparent’s relics in Normandy. But now Naima will travel to Algeria to uncover the secrets of her ancestral past. The Algerian war for independence turned Naima’s grandfather from a respected war vetran to a broke refugee, searching for safety. As she explores his journey, Naima will find where they fit into their home in France.
- The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
Genre: Historical Fiction
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.19
Nuri is a beekeeper and his wife, Afra, an artist, living a content life in Aleppo, Syria. Until the unthinkable happens. When everything they know is destroyed by war, and Afra goes blind, they must make the perilous journey towards Britain, while also facing their own loss.
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