Refugee - Text to World

Have you ever though about what it was like to be someone who lived in Cuba in 1990's, or Germany during WWII, or Syria in 2015? All of these times have been tough for Isabel, Josef, and Mahmoud. Refugee was written by Alan Gratz. It's about three people, Isabel, Josef, and Mahmoud, they all have issues with their time period. Each chapter is about a different character. Isabel, who has fled Cuba to go to "The States," finds a difficult course ahead of her before reaching them. Josef, who once lived in Germany, is a Jew. His father was sent to a concentration camp, but was later released to leave the country. They were on a ship for 40 days until they reached France. Although, they were originally going to go to Cuba, where Josef's father attempted suicide and had to stay. In the end, Josef's mother had to choose which child would go to a concentration camp. Since she couldn't choose, Josef chose for her. He later died to save his little sister, Ruthie. Finally, Mahmoud. Mahmoud was in Syria in his home, but it was destroyed in a bomb. His family couldn't live in Syria anymore. They took a raft to Turkey, but it crashed on a rock. Mahmoud's family being, his father, mother, Waleed, and Hana. At the crash they saw another raft going by full of refugees as well. To save his little sister, Hana, from drowning he gave her to the refugees on the boat. He eventually made it, to Turkey after being saved by people on an actual boat. They got a ride all the way to Macedonia from Greece before being held at gun point by a taxi driver. They walked to the border to Hungary but his family was arrested and they would be sent back to Serbia. However, they were able to "escape" the prison and eventually made it to Germany. They stayed with a Jewish family in Germany, which it was 2015, nothing bad could've happened. But, later the story said that the old woman Mahmoud's family was staying with was Ruthie. She told the story of how Josef saved her life that day.

I can relate Josef's story the best to history. During the Holocaust Josef and his family were all Jews. Which as we know were considered "inferior" in Germany. Josef and his family were constantly on the run so they wouldn't be sent to a concentration camp like their father. They eventually got on a ship called the MT St. Louis, which was actually a real ship taking Jews to Cuba, but was turned back. They later found refuge in France, some other in Belgium, United Kingdom, and Netherlands. All of which were invaded by Hitler, but he did however fail on Great Britain. His mother eventually had to choose which child would be sent to a concentration camp. Josef chose for her and saved Ruthie's life.

I thought the ending was great. All of the three stories connected in some way. In Josef's story, Isabel's grandfather was the police officer who told all of the Jews on the St. Louis "Manana" which means tomorrow. Mahmoud connects because he was later staying in the house with Ruthie, Josef's sister. Overall, the book was great all of the stories somehow connecting in the end made it great. The amount of suspense was crazy and made you excited for more later on.