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CRRL My Librarian: Coming to America

Fictional stories that explore the immigrant and refugee experience for middle grade and young adult readers.

Central Rappahannock Regional Library

9 items

  • Weaving an intricate story, 12-year-old Jhosrou tells of his family’s flight for their lives in Iran, through an Italian refugee camp to finally landing in his middle school classroom in Oklahoma. In between, he interlaces a patchwork of…
    BookNew York : Levine Querido, [2020] — FICTION Nay
  • Mia and her parents immigrate from China and land jobs as managers of a cheap motel in Anaheim with a despicable owner. They face discrimination because of their lack of proper English and non-white skin, but, despite the seriousness of…
    BookNew York, NY : Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Inc., 2018. — FICTION Yan
  • Brings together the stories of two boys, Ahmed and Max, who find themselves far from their home countries for very different reasons. Ahmed has fled war-torn Syria, losing his father on the perilous journey to Europe, and is now struggling…
    BookNew York : Roaring Brook Press, 2018. — FICTION Mar
  • Traces the paths of three different refugee families separated by decades, all hoping to escape persecution in their home countries. Josef in Nazi Germany, Isabel from Cuba and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy all face harrowing journeys and…
    BookNew York : Scholastic Press, 2017. — FICTION Gra
  • In an unnamed country under harsh military rule, 14-year-old Shif lives in poverty but has a passion for studying and hopes for the future. One night he and his friend are kidnapped by soldiers and taken to a desert prison that holds men…
    BookNew York ; Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 2019. — FICTION Fou
  • Here is a story of how a single chance encounter can change your whole universe. Natasha has spent most of her life in NYC but is undocumented and now faces the very real possibility of being deported to Jamaica with her family. Daniel, a…
    BookNew York : Delacorte Press, 2016. — FICTION Yoo
  • In graphic novel format, this story is based on the author’s life in a Kenyan refugee camp after escaping war-torn Somalia and losing his family. Omar spends years surviving in the camp, caring for his disabled brother, and hoping, like…
    Graphic NovelNew York : Dial Books for Young Readers, [2020] — 921 Moham
  • World in Between

    Based on a True Refugee Story

    Trebinčević, Kenan, 1980-
    Based on the author’s experience during the Bosnian War, Kenan lived a typical teen life, playing soccer and dreaming of becoming a famous athlete, until an army of enemy helicopters changed everything. He and his family live in hiding for…
    BookNew York, New York : Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2021. — FICTION Tre
  • The Das family emigrates from India to New York in the 1970s with their two teenage daughters: Tara, the beauty, and Sonia, the writer. Adjusting to the culture, three generations of women reach for the American Dream while holding onto…
    BookNew York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2017. — FICTION Per