In this fine book we meet five young people; each is a refugee. Their stories take place between 1939 and 2006. Their profiles tell of pertinent and heartbreaking events in their lives that forced each to seek sanctuary from brutal violence and unbearable existence in their home countries.
Ms. Leatherdale begins with an introduction that concerns the plight of all refugees. She follows with a two page 'brief history' called They Came By Boat. Beginning with the Hugueonots in 1670, and ending in 1914 when Sikh passengers arrived in British Columbia and were forced to return to India, she chronicles the many people who have been displaced by events of the time in their own countries.
Ruth, an 18-year-old Jewish girl whose family has been trying to escape Nazi Germany for two years, is the first of the 'young boat refugees' whose stories are told through careful text and with empathy for their plight. The family is finally able to board the St. Louis, a ship headed to Cuba and asylum. The pages that tell Ruth's story offer a brief description of the terror in Germany under Hitler's rule, a definition of Anti-Semitism, the ship's arrival in the Cuban harbor and the harrowing days spent waiting to disembark, and Cuba's final refusal to acknowledge their travel visas, thus sending them back out to sea, bound for Germany. A time line for the voyage taken, a brief description of what happened to Ruth, and harrowing quotes from passengers and Ruth are included, as well as what happened to the passengers aboard the St. Louis:
"OF THE 937 PASSENGERS
ABOARD THE SS ST. LOUIS:
* 28 allowed to disembark in Cuba
* 1 died of natural causes en route
* 1 attempted suicide
* 288 given asylum in Great Britain
* 224 given asylum in France
* 214 given asylum in Belgium
* 181 given asylum in Netherlands
* 254 were killed in the Holocaust after returning to Europe"
The author goes on to introduce Phu from Vietnam, Jose from Cuba, Najeeba from Afghanistan, and Mohamed from Ivory Coast. Their stories are harrowing, and personal. Readers will find sidebars that offer context, provide quotes that help to understand the urgency and terror felt by each refugee, and a section about the lives they have lived since their perilous journeys ended. Four are still alive and were interviewed by the author. Their stories are handled with grim honesty; they are hard to read.
Ms.Shakespeare uses collage to present these stories. Maps are helpful, as are newspaper headlines, and archival photos. The hand-written quotes make them all the more heartbreaking. Their stories act as a mirror to much of what is happening in the world today.
This is a very important book and its stories should be shared in late middle and high school classrooms. Students need to put a human face to young people like them who face conditions in their home countries that are inconceivable. It is a timely book. The personal stories presented here add the human touch that news reports often fail to provide. You will not forget these five young people, and their stories are sure to evoke empathy and concern for the plight of so many.
"Sixty-five million of the world's seven billion people aren't so lucky. They
have been forced to leave their homes because of war, persecution, or
natural disasters. Nineteen million of these displaced people have no hope
of ever returning home safely and are seeking asylum in another country.
More than half of these refugees are children and teenagers; many are
orphans or "unaccompanied minors" traveling alone."
Do many of us acknowledge how lucky we really are?
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