Refugees Book by Alan Gratz

Three children. Three countries. One urgent, unforgettable story of survival, courage, and the search for a place to call home. A New York Times bestseller that has moved millions of readers around the world.

  • Powerful parallel narratives across three generations and continents
  • A New York Times bestselling novel for young readers and beyond
  • From the acclaimed author of Prisoner B-3087, Grenade, and Allies
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Explore the Refugees Book Collection by Alan Gratz

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Refugee — Paperback

The celebrated Scholastic paperback edition of Alan Gratz’s award-winning novel, following Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud across different eras in a story of displacement and hope.

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Refugee — Audiobook CD

The unabridged audiobook edition across 8 compact discs, bringing the voices of Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud to life with a vivid full-cast listening experience.

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Refugee — Hardcover

The hardcover edition of Refugee, a perennial bestseller and classroom favorite praised by Ruta Sepetys as a novel that is both engaging and important.

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More Books Connected to Refugees Book

Readers who love the refugees book by Alan Gratz consistently turn to his broader catalog of historical fiction for young people. Each title applies the same urgent, research-driven storytelling to a different chapter of world history.

  • Prisoner B-3087 — A harrowing survival story set across ten Nazi concentration camps, co-written with Jack Gruener based on his true account.
  • Grenade — Dual perspectives from an American Marine and an Okinawan boy collide during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II.
  • Projekt 1065 — A young spy inside the Hitler Youth must betray everything he has been taught in order to save lives.
  • Ground Zero — Two children separated by twenty years and an ocean are both caught in the war in Afghanistan in this urgent companion to Refugee.
  • Allies — On D-Day, the fates of soldiers, resistance fighters, and civilians converge in a single world-changing day.
  • War Games — A novel of Cold War Berlin showing how ordinary families navigate extraordinary political pressure.
  • Ban This Book — A lighter but equally passionate story about a fourth grader who fights back when her favorite book is removed from the school library.

Inside the Refugees Book

Refugee weaves together three separate but emotionally connected storylines. Josef is a Jewish boy fleeing Nazi Germany aboard a ship in 1939, desperate to find a country that will accept his family. Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994 risking everything on a fragile raft to reach Florida during a time of political upheaval. Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015 making a dangerous journey across Europe, hoping to find safety after his home city is destroyed by war.

Alan Gratz researched each storyline with meticulous care, grounding the fiction in documented historical events. The three narratives run in parallel chapters and ultimately converge in a deeply affecting climax. The novel raises essential questions about identity, belonging, empathy, and the human cost of borders — questions that feel as urgent today as they did when the book was first published.

Praised by educators, librarians, and fellow authors alike, Refugee has become a cornerstone of middle-grade reading lists across the country. Ruta Sepetys, the number-one New York Times bestselling author of Salt to the Sea, wrote: “Some novels are engaging and some novels are important. Refugee is both.”

How to Read This Book

Use this five-step guide to review Refugees Book by Alan Gratz and make an informed choice from the available product information.

Five-step process for refugees bookStep-by-step infographic: 01 Choose Your Format; 02 Set the Historical Context; 03 Follow Three Voices; 04 Pause and Reflect; 05 Explore Further.STEP01ChooseYour FormatSTEP02Set theHistorical ContextSTEP03FollowThree VoicesSTEP04Pause andReflectSTEP05Explore Further
  1. 01

    Choose Your Format

    Decide whether you want the paperback, hardcover, or audiobook edition. The audiobook is especially compelling for classroom or family listening, while the print editions are ideal for annotation and close reading.

  2. 02

    Set the Historical Context

    Before diving in, spend a few minutes reviewing the three historical periods — Germany 1939, Cuba 1994, and Syria 2015. Understanding the political circumstances each child faces will deepen your connection to each storyline from the very first chapter.

  3. 03

    Follow Three Voices

    Read with attention to each narrator’s distinct voice and motivation. Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud each face unique dangers, and tracking the subtle connections between their stories as they build is one of the novel’s greatest pleasures.

  4. 04

    Pause and Reflect

    At the end of each chapter, take a moment to consider how each character’s choices reflect the larger forces of history around them. The novel rewards readers who slow down and think critically about questions of safety, identity, and belonging.

  5. 05

    Explore Further

    After finishing, explore Alan Gratz’s author notes and the related books in his catalog, including Ground Zero, which was written as a direct companion to Refugee and extends the same themes into the war in Afghanistan.

Refugees Book Reviews: What Readers Are Saying

Impossible to Put Down

Refugee grabbed me from the first page and didn’t let go. Gratz has a rare ability to make history feel immediate and personal. Each of the three storylines felt completely real, and the way they connect at the end is both surprising and deeply moving. Required reading for every age.

— Verified Reader

Perfect for the Classroom

I assigned this novel to my seventh graders and the conversations it sparked were the best we have had all year. Students who rarely engage with reading stayed up late to finish it. The historical detail is accurate, the pacing is excellent, and the emotional core is something students genuinely responded to.

— Middle School Educator

Both Engaging and Important

This book does something few novels manage: it is a genuine page-turner that also makes you think carefully about the world. The three protagonists are fully realized characters with distinct voices. By the final chapter, you care deeply about all of them. An essential, compassionate story about what it means to search for home.

— Long-Time Reader

Watch: Alan Gratz on Writing the Refugees Book

About the Author

Alan Gratz is the New York Times bestselling author of a number of books for young readers, including Refugee, Allies, Grenade, Projekt 1065, Prisoner B-3087, Ground Zero, and Ban This Book. His novels consistently blend meticulous historical research with propulsive, character-driven storytelling that resonates with readers from middle school through adulthood.

Gratz lives in the mountains of western North Carolina with his family, where he enjoys reading, playing games, and connecting with the students and educators who bring his books into their classrooms and libraries. His work has sparked conversations in schools across the country about history, empathy, and the human experience of displacement.

Browse the full collection of Alan Gratz titles, including multiple editions of Refugee in paperback, hardcover, and audiobook formats, and discover why his books remain among the most-assigned and most-loved in middle-grade fiction.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What age group is the refugees book by Alan Gratz written for?

Refugee is written primarily for readers ages 10 and up, making it ideal for middle school classrooms, but the emotional depth and historical richness of the story have made it equally popular with high school students and adult readers.

Is Refugee based on real events?

Yes. Alan Gratz researched each of the three storylines — the MS St. Louis voyage of 1939, the Cuban rafter crisis of 1994, and the Syrian refugee crisis of 2015 — using historical records, personal accounts, and documentary sources. While the characters are fictional, the events surrounding them are grounded in historical fact.

What formats is Refugee available in?

Refugee is available in paperback, hardcover, Kindle e-book, and audiobook formats, including an unabridged 8-disc CD audiobook edition. All formats are available through the store link above.

Does Alan Gratz have a companion book to Refugee?

Yes. Ground Zero, published in 2021, is widely regarded as a companion to Refugee. It follows two children — one in Afghanistan in 2001 and one in the United States in 2019 — and explores themes of war, displacement, and resilience in the same parallel-narrative style.

Is Refugee suitable for classroom use?

Absolutely. Refugee is one of the most widely adopted novels in middle school curricula across the United States. It pairs naturally with history lessons on World War II, the Cold War era, and current events, and generates meaningful discussion about human rights and global citizenship.