2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. His mother gives the sailor their tickets and they board the boat. And why do children lead the novels action? This immediately places Josef in the role of an adult, forcing him to grow up quickly. This is a powerful and inspirational book written by Alan Gratz, a great author. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world, Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. Mahmouds father tells them that Germany is accepting Syrian refugees and if they can get to Greece, they will be able to travel within the European Union to reach Germany. On the ship, Ruth, born in Nazi Germany, has the freedom to play openly for the first time in her life. How does the. Josef, his sister Ruth, and his mother all travel to Hamburg to board a ship that will take them to Cuba. Refugee looks readers straight in the eye, challenging them to truly see these kids who are battling the worst moments of our recent history. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. Ed. Complete your free account to request a guide. Despite his father's absence, Josef is pleased to see 100 men gathered to perform the ritual with him. Mahmoud hands his sister, Hana, to another passing raft of refugees, knowing that his mother cannot hold her and swim. His father was put into a concentration camp during "The Night of Broken Glass," while Josef and his sister, Ruth watched their father being taken inhumanly. But for each of them, thereis always the hope of tomorrow. In the end, these three stories are connected. In Josefs story, the very calm of the Atlantic Ocean is menacing, hiding a darker future. Josef demonstrates his personal desire to grow up, but over the course of the novel he comes to recognize the value of being able to be a child. Lito, Isabels grandfather, allows himself to be deported so that the Fernandezes can make it to Florida. Though the three stories are historically discrete at first glance, they are linked by the fates of Ruth, Lito, and the Bisharas. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliantPoignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. Please wait while we process your payment. After a few weeks in Munich, Mahmouds family is transferred to a host family in Berlin. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. If Cuba does not let the refugees in, it signifies a return to a society that is more than willing to be unjust and cruel toward them. Josefs hope starts to waver following the discovery that the ship may not actually allow them to find a new life in Cuba. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Josef did, and he sacrificed himself for Ruth. Josef's father suffers greatly from post traumatic stress disorder from his months of torture, starvation, and hard labor in the concentration camp. With urgent, clear-eyed storytelling, Gratzs Refugee compellingly explores the desperation and strength that unites those struggling for a place to call home. Meanwhile, the civil war in Syria still continues to precipitate one of the worst humanitarian crises in history. Alan Gratz is the bestselling author of a number of novels for young readers. Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. The two families face much peril in the Florida straits: giant tankers, a hurricane that blows them off course, running out of fuel and water, deadly sharks, and Mami's going into labor all while trying to avoid the U.S. Coast guard so that they can make it to shore where they can claim asylum. eNotes Editorial. everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Refugee. Order our Refugee (Alan Gratz) Study Guide, teaching or studying Refugee (Alan Gratz). Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. What details do you notice that show that this story is not taking place in the United States? Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs Complete your free account to request a guide. What are some ways we can all help. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Yet instead of succumbing to the despair of these events, Josef and the rest of his family resolve to try to find a better life in a new country. Josef and his family flee Nazi Germany in 1938; Isabel and her family flee Cuba in 1994; and Mahmoud and his family flee Syria in 2015. This is thebeets in a brownieof kid lit. REFUGEE braids three different stories of young refugees. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Josefs story starts with Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass in 1938. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 10 days. for a group? The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child. creating and saving your own notes as you read. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. His family decides to leave and trek to Germany. Summary Themes Questions & Answers Characters Analysis Refugee Themes T he main themes in Refugee are trauma and growing up, the dehumanization of refugees, and empathy and hope. Source (s) Refugee For one, fiction enables the reader to inhabit history in a way that textbooks and newsprint cannot accommodate. The stories are set in different times and places and are told from the perspective of the refugee children. While walking on the boat afterwards, a newly minted man, he overhears the stewards discussing how the ships engines are maxed out - in order to beat the other ships to Cuba. Filled with both tragic loss and ample evidence of resilience, these memorable and tightly plotted stories contextualize and give voice to current refugee crises, Exceptional readers Michael Goldstrom, Kyla Garcia, and Assaf Cohen tackle Gratzs compelling novel. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original The way the content is organized, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (2), LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in, Injustice and Cruelty vs. Summary Josef is still outside the Havana Harbor, 21 days from home. After the Soviet Union collapsed, so too did its aid to Cuba, forcing thousands of families like Isabels into utter poverty. In 1938 Berlin, a 12-year-old Jewish boy named Josef is awakened by the sound of Hitler's Brownshirts breaking into his family's apartment. eNotes.com, Inc. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Isabels boat, too, tips over, the sea claiming her familys food and water. Want 100 or more? Students will see themselves in the young protagonists: children faced with insurmountable and tragic circumstances but who, at their heart, are just kids who love their families and want to live in peace. Isabel Fernandezis escaping Castro's Cuba in 1994. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. The family struggles between needing to stay "invisible" in order to avoid danger and survive and becoming "visible" so that those with means can give them aid. The rest of the passengers grow angry. What is the summary of refugee? What is a conflict in the book Refugee by Alan Gratz? A gripping, visceral, and hold-your-breath intense story of three young refugees. This Study Guide consists of approximately 70pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - The trip is initially joyous and hopeful. Once a beautiful, thriving city, Aleppo is now a bombed shell of its former self. Josefs father gets sent to a concentration camp. Im a big fan of that, and it was executed brilliantly here. The rumor proves all too true, however, when the ship is marooned at the Cuban harbor for days, with officials telling the passengers day after day they will be allowed to disembark maanaSpanish for tomorrow. Aaron, who suffers a mental breakdown and jumps ship, is rescued by a Cuban police officer called Mariano Padron and allowed into Cuba, but Josef, Rachel, and Ruthand the rest of the passengers of the St. Louisare turned back. The elderly woman Mahmoud meets is Ruth, Josefs younger sister. Josefs story starts with Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass in 1938. In the end, these three stories are connected. Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? When Isabel is asked to play a song at her new school in America, she plays a Cuban salsa version of The Star-Spangled Banner.. It only gets worse for them, but in the end, he learns a powerful life lesson: Its better to be visible than invisible, because even though the bad people can harm you, the good people can help you. Isabels best friend and neighbor, Ivn, is building a small boat with his father so that his family can flee to America. Get news and updates about the stuff Alan writes! Also, there are parallels between the three stories, and at the end, all of the three stories are connected. publication online or last modification online. Josefs father is taken to Havana to recover. If there are two dates, the date of publication and appearance Aarons purported crime is that he is still practicing law when the Nazis have expressly forbidden the Jewish community from that profession. Synopsis: Refugee is a historical fiction novel that features 3 stories in one ; Josef, a Jewish boy escaping Nazi Germany in the 1930s, Isabel, a Cuban girl escaping Castro's regime in 1994, and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy fleeing from the conflict in Syria in 2015. Frau Rosenberg takes Mahmoud aside and tells him the story of her childhood: she is Ruth, Josefs sister. Isabel's story is set in Cuba in 1994 during a time of great economic crisis and upheaval. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America Josef Landau Josef is a 13-year-old Jewish boy living in Germany in the 1930s. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. Trauma and. Josef's family is finally reunited months later in 1939, and they attempt to escape Nazi Germany aboard the M.S. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Josef goes to find his sister but when he comes back his father is gone. They have come to arrest Josef's father: "Other Jewish homes and businesses and synagogues were destroyed all over Germany, and tens of . Mahmouds father arranges for a smuggler to take them to the island of Lesbos, in Greece. You have successfully joined Alan's newsletter list! As a narrative device, this has the effect of accentuating the perils of unusual transcontinental journeys, which the reader is habituated to consider in terms of air travel. Josef wonders what this means for (read more from the Pages 74 - 109 Summary). Josef's father is convinced there is a trap, so Josef and his mother go without him. Eventually, the rest of the family is rescued by the Greek Coast Guard and taken to Lesbos, where the coast is littered with the bodies of Syrian refugees who drowned in transit. For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! Mahmoud should not have to decide to give away his little sister to save her life, Josef should not have to slap his father to subdue him, and Isabel should not have to scramble to arrange gasoline for a boat to take her family away to possible safety. This is a fascinating tale. Comment on the use of imagery in "Games at Twilight.". Contact us All storyboards are private and secure to the portal using enterprise-class file security hosted by Microsoft Azure. Mahmoud; Waleed; their parents, Youssef and Fatima; and their baby sister, Hana, leave for Germany. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. In Cuba in 1994, eleven-year-old Isabel Fernandez lives a life of poverty and uncertainty in the middle of civil strife. This compelling novel will help young people make sense of todays refugee crisis. In 1938, his home is raided by Nazi storm troopers, and his father is taken to the Dachau concentration camp. This is an engaging tale. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." Powerful and compelling. Isabel trades her trumpet to a fisherman for gasoline, paying her familys way onto Ivns familys boat. This is how Mahmoud puts it: No one cares about us if we stay out of your way, but if we come near you were seen as a burden. What were some allusions (references to real people, places, events, religious practices, art, literature) present in the novel? Refugee: Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean - 1939, 10 days Summary & Analysis Next Isabel: Straits of Florida - 1994, 1 day (2) Themes and Colors Key Summary Analysis Josef and some of the other children on the St. Louis take a tour of the ship 's bridge and engine room. When students storyboard, they are actively engaged in the learning process and can make connections between the text and their own lives. on 50-99 accounts. In addition, any storyboard can be made sharable, where a private link to the storyboard can be shared externally. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Her father is caught participating in the "Maleconazo" riot, during which citizens protested the government's civil rights abuses as well as the economic crisis that had plunged the nation into poverty. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. Free trial is available to new customers only. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. His selflessness is made evident when he sacrifices his own life for his sister's. Josef later dies in a concentration camp. Chapter 22 Summary: "Josef: Somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean1939" . As the starving populace rioted against dictator Fidel Castros police, Castro allowed Cubans to flee to the United States, thus ending the riots in effect. Refugee is a powerful novel about three very different children. Purchasing You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. After it capsizes, it is another boat that gives Hana a chance at life, and it is a Greek Coast Guard boat that ultimately rescues Mahmouds family. The Landaus disembark in France, which gives them some months of respite. His father refuses to leave the cabin, thinking the gathering is a Nazi trap. Discount, Discount Code date the date you are citing the material. When the family finally gets to their promised boat, they find that it is merely a rubber raft. date the date you are citing the material. Refugee is a novel by Alan Gratz that examines three interrelated stories of the refugee experience. At only 13, Josef takes on much of the family's responsibilities. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, surprisingconnections will tie their stories together in the end. Meanwhile, there is a rumor spreading that the ships passengers are likely to be turned back from Cuba, a thought too terrible for Josef to accept. His mother, father, little brother Waleed, and baby sister Hana barely manage to escape the bombing of their apartment building. Mahmoud decides that he no longer wants to be ignored and leads the refugees out of the prison, walking twelve hours to Austria. Mahmouds story starts with their apartment building collapsing, due to people rioting because of the civil war going on in Syria. Log in here. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. Unlisted storyboards can be shared via a link, but otherwise will remain hidden. Once he is released, the family flees to Cuba. For the last few years, there has been a war in his country between the Syrian government, rebels, the Soviets, the United States and several other factions. No one else can view anything. Six months later, his mother receives a telegram that her husband has been released, but the family must leave Germany immediately. This heart-stopping novel is not only compelling it is necessary. A stunning, poignant novel about the plight of refugees Grade A. Josefs fathers jump into the sea symbolizes his desire to annihilate himself. Ruth promises to help Mahmoud find Hana. They board the St. Louis, a large German ship, and set out. Refugee is a young adult literature novel by Alan Gratz published by Scholastic Corporation in 2017. All three stories make for a great novel and it will teach you a lot and appreciate how good we have it. Isabel Fernandez is an eleven-year-old girl who lives just outside Havana in 1994. The second date is today's Mahmoud and his traumatized younger brother, Waleed, have learned to survive the frequent bombings and the bullying by majority Sunnis by learning to be invisible. However, the family is forced to act when their neighborhood is bombed. Officer Padron insists they had the right papers but the crowd gets mad insisting they also have the right papers. Aarons real crime, of course, is that he is a Jew, the minority group that Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler wants to eradicate. Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 6 days, Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 8 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (1), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 10 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (2), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 11 days, Isabel: The Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (3), Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey 2015, 11 days (1), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 14 days, Isabel: The Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (4), Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey 2015, 11 days (2), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 17 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 2 days, Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (1), Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (2), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 4 days, Mahmoud: Lesbos to Athens 2015, 12 days (3), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 5 days (2), Mahmoud: Macedonia to Serbia 2015, 14-15 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (1), Mahmoud: Serbia to Hungary 2015, 15-16 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (2), Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (3), Josef: Vornay, France 1940, 1 year, 1 month, 10 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (4), Mahmoud: Hungary to Germany 2015, 17 days. One example is when Josefs family falls apart and he has to be the leader by talking to other people and acting as the main adult of his family. Isabels family and friends have always wanted to leave the country, but Castro will throw you in jail if you try to escape. Refugee follows the stories of three different children and their families, each attempting to flee their violent homelands, in different regions of the world and during different decades. Josef and his sister Ruthie are just children, and yet they are needlessly abused by the soldiers. All storyboards and images are private and secure. In the end, these three stories are connected. The author can choose to leave the storyboard public or mark it as Unlisted. The way the content is organized, Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (3), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 5 days (1), LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in, Injustice and Cruelty vs. The stories are set in different times and places and are told from the perspective of the refugee children. In Isabels journey, Ivn is claimed by sharks, which symbolize the life-taking maw of the ocean. However, despite the presence of kind adults like Captain Schroeder, the ship is also haunted by Nazi spies, like Otto Schiendick, who mistreat Jews. Things dont go as planned when a fight breaks out and the family has to leave their car and belongings behind. It carried 937 Jewish refugees who were seeking freedom from Nazi persecution in Germany. Even amongst people who have lost everything, they still have empathy toward this man who showed the same courtesy to a fellow Jewish person. All will face unimaginable dangersfrom drownings to bombings to betrayals. Judy Blundell, National Book Award winning author of What I Saw and How I Lied. According to Gratz, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continues to wage war on his own people. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. A large part of the novels narrative focuses on boats, which represent tenuous hope. Once he is released, the family flees to Cuba. Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. Refugeeis both. This is an easy summary of the book Refugee by Alan Gratz. Sometimes it can end up there. Josef; his mother, Rachel; and his sister, Ruth, leave for Hamburg, where they are to meet Aaron and sail to Cuba, which is said to be offering asylum to those fleeing Nazi Germany. These arent completely true stories, but these things do happen to real people, even today.