By Benjamin Zephaniah (author) Part of the Methuen Drama Student Editions series
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Selected by a distinguished independent panel of experts including our editorial expert, Julia Eccleshare, for Diverse Voices - 50 of the best Children's Books celebrating cultural diversity in the UK.
Haunting, tragic and distressing in what it reveals about man’s inhumanity to man, Refugee Boy is also an affirming story of one boy’s amazing courage and several other individual’s goodness and integrity. Caught up in the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Alem’s life is in danger at home.
To make sure he survives, Alem’s father brings him to Britain and abandons him to seek asylum and find a new and better life. The story of how Alem retains his dignity and independence in the most challenging of circumstances while also adapting to the demands of a new life is strongly told.
Perfect for Reluctant Readers as well as keen readers. To view other titles we think are suitable for reluctant readers please click here .
An eye for an eye. It's very simple. You choose your homeland like a hyena picking and choosing where he steals his next meal from. Scavenger.
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Yes you grovel to the feet of Mengistu and when his people spit at you and kick you from the bowl you scuttle across the border. Scavenger.
As a violent civil war rages back home in Ethiopia, teenager Alem and his father are in a bed and breakfast in Berkshire. It's his best holiday ever. The next morning his father is gone and has left a note explaining that he and his mother want to protect Alem from the war. This strange grey country of England is now his home.
On his own, and in the hands of the social services and the Refugee Council, Alem lives from letter to letter, waiting to hear something from his father. Then he meets car-obsessed Mustapha, the lovely 'out-of-your-league' Ruth and dangerous Sweeney - three unexpected allies who spur him on in his fight to be seen as more than just the Refugee Boy.
Lemn Sissay's remarkable stage adaptation of Benjamin Zephaniah's bestselling novel is published here in the Methuen Drama Student Edition series, featuring commentary & notes by Professor Lynette Goddard (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK) that help the student unpack the play's themes, language, structure and production history to date.
This stage adaptation of Refugee Boy is a newly added text to Edexcel's English Literature GCSE. The first-ever scholarly edition of this play, which is highly topical in its look at migration, the rights of refugees, community, 'Britishness' and personal identity.
A Preview of Refugee Boy is available here.
'[The] story of a young Ethiopian boy, whose parents abandon him in London to save his life.' - Katy Guest, literary editor for The Independent on Sunday
Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah Benjamin Zephaniah was born in Birmingham and then spent some of his early years in Jamaica. He came to London when he was 22 and his first book of poetry for adults was published soon after. He appeared regularly on radio and TV including a Desert Island Discs appearance, literary festivals, and has also taken part in plays and films. He was most well-known for his performance poetry with a political edge for both children and adults and gritty teenage fiction. His collections Talking Turkey, Wicked World and Funky Chickens broke new ground in children's poetry. He is the only Rastafarian poet to be short-listed for the Chairs of Poetry for both Oxford and Cambridge University and has been listed in The Times' list of 50 greatest postwar writers.
He has sixteen honorary doctorates and the Eailing Hospital in west London has named a wing after him in recognition of his work.
Benjamin was passionate about issues that were both global and local, and his work focused on themes such as human rights and protecting the environment. He was widely considered to be among the first poets to address the climate crisis.
Benjamin died on December 7 th 2023 at the age of 65.
Photo credit Adrian Pope
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An eye for an eye. It's very simple.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Refugee Boy and determined it is suitable for children aged 11-18 years old
Refugee Boy features in the following genres: Featured Books for 13+ readers, Recommendations, Gritty Reads, Recommended Children's eBooks, Stories about Family and Friends, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Featured Books for Young Adults
Paperback. £9.89, down from the £10.99 cover price. In Stock.
Refugee Boy was written by Benjamin Zephaniah and published by Methuen Drama an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Refugee Boy has 98 pages
Yes it is part of Methuen Drama Student Editions series
£9.89, reduced from £10.99. In Stock.
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