Stories of Strength: Books to Read for World Refugee Day
Stories of Strength: Books to Read for World Refugee Day
This year, UNHCR reports that forced displacement has reached unprecedented levels, with 120 million people displaced as of May 2024. While many refugees are in need of support when they arrive to a new place seeking safety, they also bring their diverse skills and talents to the communities that welcome them – including in literature.
On World Refugee Day, the international day to honor people who have been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence and persecution, UNHCR highlights refugee voices and stories through the power of literature and a selection of ten fiction and non-fiction books by refugee and former refugee authors.
Each book provides a glimpse into the personal experiences of millions of refugees who have been forced to flee their homes and seek safety. Their stories of strength will inspire readers, fostering a deeper understanding of their journeys, and encourage global solidarity with refugees worldwide.
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
In an emotionally powerful and honest autobiography, a human rights activist shares the poignant story of life as a former child soldier during Sierra Leone's devastating civil war. Separated from his family and forced to flee, Ishmael Beah spent months surviving with a group of young boys before being forced into becoming a child soldier at the age of twelve. This memoir not only recounts the brutal realities of the war and its impact on children but also highlights the strength of hope, redemption, and resilience in overcoming the aftermath of such conflict.
Born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Ishmael Beah escaped to Guinea as a refugee when the civil war erupted. He later relocated to the United States. Beah is the New York Times bestselling author of "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" and "Radiance of Tomorrow." In 2007, he became UNICEF’s first Advocate for Children Affected by War.
Planet of Clay by Samar Yazbek
In an ode to the resilience and beauty found amid the chaos of the Syrian war, "Planet of Clay" narrates the life of Dima, a young neurodivergent girl from Damascus. Dima’s vivid imagination transports readers to a colorful world of crayons and planets, set against the backdrop of relentless bombings in Syria.
Samar Yazbek, a Syrian writer and journalist born in Jableh, authored the award-winning "In the Crossfire: A Diary of the Syrian Revolution" in 2011, documenting the early months of the uprising. Forced to flee to France with her daughter due to threats from the Assad regime, Yazbek has since made secret returns to Syria to continue her documentation of the war and advocacy for civilians. She founded Women Now for Development, a France-based NGO focused on empowering Syrian women both economically and socially.
Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
This book offers a poignant and beautifully illustrated homage to the heartbreaking realities of the Syrian refugee crisis, framed as a father's letter to his young son on the brink of a difficult journey. Hosseini brings to life the pre-war existence in Homs, Syria, and its devastating transformation into a war-torn landscape. Inspired to write this story after seeing the haunting image of a young Syrian boy's lifeless body on a Turkish beach in 2015, Hosseini captures the profound emotions underlying the desperate measures refugees undertake in their search for safety.
Khaled Hosseini, originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, fled with his family to the United States, where they were granted political asylum. While working as a physician, Hosseini began writing his first novel, "The Kite Runner," in March 2001, launching his acclaimed literary career. Today, he is a globally renowned and bestselling author, with his works "The Kite Runner," "A Thousand Splendid Suns," and "And the Mountains Echoed" published in over seventy countries and selling more than 40 million copies worldwide. In 2006, Khaled Hosseini was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil
This book chronicles Clemantine Wamariya's traumatic childhood experiences during the Rwandan genocide. In 1994, Clemantine and her fifteen-year-old sister fled Rwanda, spending six years as refugees across seven different countries. They faced hunger, imprisonment, abuse, kindness, and cruelty before finally being granted refugee status in the United States. This memoir conveys the profound emotions of feeling dehumanized, witnessing unimaginable atrocities, and finding the resilience to rebuild and create a new life.
Clemantine Wamariya is a storyteller, author, and human rights advocate. Born in Kigali, Rwanda, she was displaced by conflict and traversed seven African countries as a child. At age 12, she gained refugee status in the United States, where she was adopted and later attended Yale University. Wamariya has appeared on The Oprah Show four times and has spoken at the Forbes Summit, TEDx, and various universities and esteemed organizations. In 2011, President Obama appointed her to the board of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, making her the youngest board member in the museum's history. "The Girl Who Smiled Beads" became a New York Times bestseller.
The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang
This book narrates the harrowing journey from the war-ravaged jungles of Laos to refugee camps in Thailand, and ultimately to safety in the United States. Yang poignantly captures her family’s struggles and their escape to Thailand, honoring their past and the challenges and joys of adjusting to a new culture while preserving traditions passed down from her cherished grandmother.
Kao Kalia Yang, a Hmong American author, filmmaker, and teacher, has also written "The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father." Born in Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in 1980, Yang and her family resettled in Minnesota as refugees in 1987. Her first book recounts the journey that many Hmong people undertook in search of a place to call "home." With the Hmong people lacking a written language of their own, "The Latehomecomer" serves as a tribute to the spirit of Yang’s grandmother and the countless untold stories of her people.
The Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay
Passarlay’s memoir recounts his perilous quest for safety as a twelve-year-old fleeing the war in Afghanistan. Starting from the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, he journeyed through Iran and Europe, ultimately reaching Britain. Over twelve grueling months, Passarlay faced imprisonment, hunger, cruelty, brutality, loneliness, and terror, and nearly drowned while crossing the Mediterranean Sea before being granted asylum in the United Kingdom.
Gulwali Passarlay is a published author, TEDx speaker, and a graduate of the University of Manchester. He was honored with the opportunity to carry the Olympic Torch during the 2012 London Games. His debut book, "The Lightless Sky," chronicles his extraordinary escape from war and provides an intimate perspective on the modern refugee crisis, one of the most significant humanitarian issues since World War II.
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
The Refugees is a collection of eight stories that delve into the lives of Vietnamese communities across the United States, reflecting the experiences of Vietnamese refugees following the fall of Saigon. Each story examines themes of identity, love, grief, and the pursuit of fulfillment, capturing both the human condition and the unique challenges faced by Vietnamese refugees in America.
Viet Thanh Nguyen fled Vietnam with his family after the fall of Saigon, arriving in Pennsylvania at the age of four. His debut novel, "The Sympathizer," received the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Carnegie Medal, and is now available on HBO Max. "The Refugees," his second work of fiction, honors his family's journey and the experiences of countless other refugees in the United States.
The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari
In a stunning memoir, Daoud recounts his experiences as a translator and guide for various news organizations and the UN, dedicated to sharing the stories of those affected by the conflict in Sudan. In 2003, as a Zaghawa tribesman, Hari was among the many villagers attacked and displaced by militias backed by the Sudanese government. Although his village was destroyed and his family scattered, Hari managed to escape and find refuge in Chad. His poignant memoir is a testament to courage and sorrow, illuminating the Darfur conflict and providing context to the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
Daoud Hari was born in Sudan's Darfur region. After surviving an assault on his village, he fled to Chad and began working as a translator for major news outlets like The New York Times, NBC, and the BBC, as well as for the United Nations and various aid organizations. Now residing in the United States, he participated in SaveDarfur.org’s Voices from Darfur tour.
The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You by Dina Nayeri
At the age of eight, Dina Nayeri fled Iran with her mother and brother, finding temporary refuge in a dilapidated Italian hotel-turned-refugee camp. Eventually, she was granted asylum in the United States, where she settled in Oklahoma and later attended Princeton University. In this book, Nayeri intertwines her own compelling story with those of other refugees and asylum-seekers, offering readers an intimate look into their daily lives and the various stages of their journeys, from escape to asylum and resettlement.
Dina Nayeri is the author of two novels and a work of creative nonfiction. Her book "The Ungrateful Refugee" (2019) won the Geschwister Scholl Preis and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Kirkus Prize, and the Elle Grand Prix des Lectrices. A 2019-2020 Fellow at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris and recipient of the 2018 UNESCO City of Literature Paul Engle Prize, she has also received a National Endowment for the Arts literature grant, the O. Henry Prize, and has been featured in Best American Short Stories, among other accolades. Her work has been published in over 20 countries and numerous publications. She graduated from Princeton, Harvard, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop and now serves on the permanent faculty at the University of St. Andrews.
We are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World
Malala shares her own story of displacement and introduces the journeys of other girls who have been forced to leave their homes. Whether from Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, and beyond, this book gives a voice to the girls Malala has met in refugee camps through her campaign for girls’ education and shares personal stories behind the faceless statistics and new stories of displacement.
Malala Yousafzai is a longtime advocate for girls’ education around the world. She became a refugee in 2012 after a failed assassination attempt by the Taliban due to her activism in Pakistan. In 2013, Malala and her father founded the Malala Fund to further advocate for the impacts of girls’ education around the world, and in 2014, Malala became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In 2017, she was designated a United Nations Messenger of Peace by Secretary-General António Guterres. Malala is a graduate from Oxford University and continues to give girls a voice around the world.
