NOWHERE BOY: Readers & Educators Guide

Best Users: Librarians, Educators, ELL Educators, Immigration Community Groups, After School Organizations, Book Clubs, Home Learners
Best Audience: Children Grades 05-10

 

ABOUT THE GUIDE

Are you looking for a school-wide read? A book to build a culture of welcoming and belonging for immigrant and refugee families? A discussion to inspire global empathy and action?

Louise El Yaafouri of Refugee Classroom, I’m Your Neighbor Books, and Curious City collaborated on an extensive guide for readers and educators to help you teach and share this crucial new middle grade novel.

“If a global crisis is a collection of thousands of personal stories, what do we all gain from knowing those stories and one another?”
—Guiding Question for Readers

Nowhere Boy (4 starred reviews!) brings together Max, a white American boy whose family has moved to Brussels and Ahmed, an unaccompanied Syrian refugee boy whose painful journey leads to the same city. A dangerous encounter with a smuggler leads Ahmed to hide in Max’s basement.

The boys’ meeting is inevitable, but their trust and friendship is a triumph of their own making. This incredible book gives readers an intimate view of the cataclysmic Syrian war and refugee crisis and leads readers to understand that their actions are capable of combating a world crisis.

The Guide includes Discussion Questions, Teaching Opportunities on the Syrian Crisis and other topics, Vocabulary, and Modifications for ELL’s and Enrichment.

Reader & Educator Guide
DOWNLOAD Nowhere Boy: Reader & Educator Guide (PDF)
 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Nowhere Boy
By Katherine Marsh
Published by Roaring Brook Press
Hardcover ISBN-13: 9781250307576
Paperback ISBN-13: 9781250211453
Available on Audio
Age Range: 10 – 14 Years

A timely, poignant tale of family, sacrifice and the friendship between a young Syrian refugee and an American boy living in Brussels.

Fourteen-year-old Ahmed is stuck in a city that wants nothing to do with him. Newly arrived in Brussels, Belgium, Ahmed fled a life of uncertainty and suffering in Aleppo, Syria, only to lose his father on the perilous journey to the shores of Europe. Now Ahmed’s struggling to get by on his own, but with no one left to trust and nowhere to go, he’s starting to lose hope.

Then he meets Max, a thirteen-year-old American boy from Washington, D.C. Lonely and homesick, Max is struggling at his new school and just can’t seem to do anything right. But with one startling discovery, Max and Ahmed’s lives collide and a friendship begins to grow. Together, Max and Ahmed will defy the odds, learning from each other what it means to be brave and how hope can change your destiny.

Set against the backdrop of the Syrian refugee crisis, award-winning author of Jepp, Who Defied the Stars Katherine Marsh delivers a gripping, heartwarming story of resilience, friendship and everyday heroes.

ALA Notable Book 2019
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Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books of 2018
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New York Times Book Review Notable Children’s Books of 2018
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“Marsh skillfully weaves the historical parallels with a touching story of friendship. She ratchets up the tension and suspense, until it becomes unbearable; readers will fly through the last hundred pages. VERDICT Thoughtfully touching on immigration, Islamophobia, and terrorism, this novel is a first-purchase.”
—School Library Journal, starred review
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“This well-crafted and suspenseful novel touches on the topics of refugees and immigrant integration, terrorism, Islam, Islamophobia, and the Syrian war with sensitivity and grace. A captivating book situated in present-day discourse around the refugee crisis, featuring two boys who stand by their high values in the face of grave risk and succeed in drawing goodwill from others.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
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“Alternate chapters share each boy’s perspective with humor and pathos, capturing their sense of profound isolation and fear until they meet each other…Through the boys’ deepening friendship, Marsh offers a timely and entertaining tale of suspense and intrigue while eloquently conveying the courage necessary to trust another person in a climate rife with fear, suspicion, and ethical dilemmas.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
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“Elegantly structured, plausible in its improbable plot, and studded with moments of rapturous prose. The book ends on a single word that sums up its entire message: Hope.”
—The New York Times Book Review
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“A perilous journey, tempered by the striking realism of obstacles refugees face daily.”
—The Bulletin, starred review
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“A hopeful story about recovery, empathy, and the bravery of young people.”
—Booklist
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“Perfect for classroom reads, this timely novel with its strong male protagonists will foster discussions about friendship, Islam, and complex refugee predicaments throughout the world.”
—VOYA
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“Nowhere Boy has the authenticity of nonfiction, with all the heart and pulse of a great novel. As a journalist, who has reported on the refugee crisis for years, I was deeply impressed by how real and gripping Marsh’s tale felt—from the very start—as a father and son clung to a life raft in rough seas. This should be required reading in middle schools across America.” —Jake Halpern, winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for his series, “Welcome to the New World,” in the New York Times