2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. However, unspeakable tragedy occurs when Ivn dies in a sudden shark attack. Josef Landau Josef is a 13-year-old Jewish boy living in Germany in the 1930s. Dont have an account? Sometimes it can end up there. Get news and updates about the stuff Alan writes! By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. A biblical reference to Noahs ark as the sanctuary bridging creatures over troubled waters is implicit in the novels boat imagery. Each story weaves actual events into the narrative to create a realistic picture of the struggle and tragedies that families in each of these situations have faced. (one code per order). Comment on the use of imagery in "Games at Twilight.". -Graham S. Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. After . They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Refugee is a novel by Alan Gratz that examines three interrelated stories of the refugee experience. This is a must read for anyone, especially people who like history. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Isabel Fernandez lives in Cuba in 1994. Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. Unlisted storyboards can be shared via a link, but otherwise will remain hidden. Refugee follows the stories of three different children and their families, each attempting to flee their violent homelands, in different regions of the world and during different decades. But for each of them, thereis always the hope of tomorrow. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. In Cuba in 1994, eleven-year-old Isabel Fernandez lives a life of poverty and uncertainty in the middle of civil strife. When Isabel is asked to play a song at her new school in America, she plays a Cuban salsa version of The Star-Spangled Banner.. Mahmoud hands his sister, Hana, to another passing raft of refugees, knowing that his mother cannot hold her and swim. Officer Padron insists they had the right papers but the crowd gets mad insisting they also have the right papers. publication online or last modification online. After drifting off to the Bahamas, the Fernandez and Castillo families finally steer back on course to reach Florida, but not before Isabels mother delivers her baby brother in the boat. Josef again shows his passage into adulthood, as he notices and worries about his mothers mental condition. The way the content is organized, Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (3), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 5 days (1), LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in, Injustice and Cruelty vs. In exchange for Rachels diamonds, the soldiers offer her an impossible bargain: she can save just one of her children from being arrested. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. When the family is eventually caught, Josefs mother is forced to choose which of her children will be freed and which will be sent to a concentration camp. His mother gives the sailor their tickets and they board the boat. What is the resolution for Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud inRefugee? The family face incredible hardship and tragedy throughout their long journey through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, and Hungary on their way to Germany. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. publication online or last modification online. The second is the date of Log in here. We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country. By focusing on details such as Ruths stuffed rabbit, Mahmouds counterfeit life jackets, and Isabels trumpet, fiction forces readers to view tragedy not as a removed phenomenon, but as something happening daily to people like us.. All will face unimaginable dangersfrom drownings to bombings to betrayals. For one, fiction enables the reader to inhabit history in a way that textbooks and newsprint cannot accommodate. When Officer Padron returns to the St. Louis, he is treated like a hero by the Jewish passengers. Meanwhile, there is a rumor spreading that the ships passengers are likely to be turned back from Cuba, a thought too terrible for Josef to accept. Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. It is shabbos and time for Josefs Bar Mitzvah, the Jewish religious ceremony when a Jewish boy turns 13 years old. In Josefs story, the very calm of the Atlantic Ocean is menacing, hiding a darker future. When the family finally gets to their promised boat, they find that it is merely a rubber raft. The Syrian Civil War is still ongoing as of 2021. Lito jumps in the water to distract the Coast Guard, and Isabels mother gives birth to a boy, just as they reach the shore. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Struggling with distance learning? Last Updated on June 29, 2020, by eNotes Editorial. Josefs fathers jump into the sea symbolizes his desire to annihilate himself. The Landaus disembark in France, which gives them some months of respite. If there are two dates, the date of publication and appearance A haunting fictional treatment of historic events. March 4, 2023, SNPLUSROCKS20 Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, Refugee: All storyboards are private and secure to the portal using enterprise-class file security hosted by Microsoft Azure. These arent completely true stories, but these things do happen to real people, even today. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Newbery Honor winning author of The War That Saved My Life. But Captain Schroeder recognizes the necessity of keeping those hopes alive, and so continues to conceal that there may be trouble when they reach Cuba. Faced with her father being sent to prison, Isabel and her family (her pregnant Mami, Papi, and grandfather Lito) decide to band together with Isabel's best friend Ivan and his family, the Castillos. This is a fascinating tale. They take a train to board the St. Louis, where it feels like paradise compared to the treatment they received the last couple of years. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. Fidel Castro has taken over the country of Cuba and the citizens are sick of his dictatorship. Isabels best friend and neighbor, Ivn, is building a small boat with his father so that his family can flee to America. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. for a customized plan. Finally, storyboards are a great way to assess student understanding because they provide a visual representation of student learning. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs Lito keeps reminding himself and Isabel that they will get to America tomorrowmaanaa promise that soon reveals a deeper meaning. Storyboards also promote higher-level thinking by encouraging students to synthesize information and think critically about what they have read. Meeting Aaron at Hamburg, Josef is shocked to see his once-confident father visibly anxious and harrowed. All three families make their asylum-seeking journeys on boats through perilous waters. Though Refugee is a novel, all three of its main storylines are based on actual historical events. The journey aboard the St. Louis from Hamburg to Havana is a sunny interlude in Josef and Ruths troubled childhood. Just as when Isabel gave some of her paltry food to the cat, Gratz shows here how even the most destitute people can still give somethingthus, those with more than that should be able to provide any aid they can, too. Isabels story starts with a riot. Lito is rescued and deported to Cuba. That day in 1940 in France, her mother could not make the impossible choice before her. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. They skipped the chapters on the other two characters, and the students that read Josef's story had to read the last chapter of Mahmoud's . These arent completely true stories, but these things do happen to real people, even today. Amidst the celebration of leaving, Josef is concerned about his father. The places where they live are in a horrifying state of turmoil. One example is when Josefs family falls apart and he has to be the leader by talking to other people and acting as the main adult of his family. With the fall of the Soviet Union, aid to Cuba has dried up, and many families starve. The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child. Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 6 days, Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 8 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (1), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 10 days, Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 11 days, Isabel: The Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (3), Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey 2015, 11 days (1), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 14 days, Isabel: The Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (4), Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey 2015, 11 days (2), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 17 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 2 days, Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (1), Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (2), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 4 days, Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (3), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 5 days (1), Mahmoud: Lesbos to Athens 2015, 12 days (3), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 5 days (2), Mahmoud: Macedonia to Serbia 2015, 14-15 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (1), Mahmoud: Serbia to Hungary 2015, 15-16 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (2), Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (3), Josef: Vornay, France 1940, 1 year, 1 month, 10 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (4), Mahmoud: Hungary to Germany 2015, 17 days. The interplay between water and vessel, then, marks the unpredictable nature of a refugees journey. Lito, Isabels grandfather, also joins them. Josefs father gets sent to a concentration camp. Refugee is a powerful novel about three very different children. Each child experiences traumatic losses and personal victories as they struggle to escape the political instability of their homelands. SparkNotes PLUS His only distinguishing characteristics are big ears and wire-rimmed glasses. Christina Diaz Gonzalez, author of The Red Umbrella and A Thunderous Whisper. The night that they were captured in France, Josef volunteered to be taken by the Nazis; both Josef and their mother were killed in concentration camps. Finally, the Bisharas reach Germany, where they are offered a place to stay by a kind older Jewish woman. This is how Mahmoud puts it: No one cares about us if we stay out of your way, but if we come near you were seen as a burden. A stunning, poignant novel about the plight of refugees Grade A. Alan Gratzs novel Refugee (2017) illuminates the worldwide refugee crisis through the stories of three children fleeing possible death with their families in different times and places. What I really like about this book is the changing perspectives. Teachers can view all of their students storyboards, but students can only view their own. The summary is broken up into approximately 50-page blocks. Mahmoud and his traumatized younger brother, Waleed, have learned to survive the frequent bombings and the bullying by majority Sunnis by learning to be invisible. However, the family is forced to act when their neighborhood is bombed. Josef's story is set in Nazi Germany in 1939. His father, Aaron, is taken away by the Nazis on Kristallnacht and is sent to the Dachau concentration camp. Refugee Chapters 22-32 Summary & Analysis. Six months later, Aaron tells his family in a letter that he has been released from the concentration camp Dachau by the Nazis on the condition that the family leave Germany immediately. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original Scholastic|July 25,2017|Ages 8and Up. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Officer Padron, a Cuban policeman assigned to the St. Louis, saves Josefs father. The Bisharas set sail on the crowded raft, standing in the freezing rain and cold. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, Refugee: Margaret Neville, The King's English Bookstore, 2018 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers, 2018 National Jewish Book Award Winner for Young Adults, New York Times Notable Middle Grade Childrens Book 2017, 2017 Cybils Middle Grade Fiction Award Winner, 2018 Indies Choice/E.B. Full of struggle, heroism, and non-stop adventure, Refugee is not only an important book, its a terrific story. Word Count: 1329. Interestingly, the stories are also tied together through the symbolism of water and boats. (He is Officer Padron from Josefs story.) His father was put into a concentration camp during "The Night of Broken Glass," while Josef and his sister, Ruth watched their father being taken inhumanly. The stories are set in different times and places and are told from the perspective of the refugee children. Josef's father grows anxious, and Josef fears the doctor will find his father mentally ill and turn the family away. Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 10 days. Anincredibly important, heartrending, edge-of-the-seat read, bringing light to the plight of immigrants who search for safety and freedom. Trauma and. The smugglers raft is destroyed by rocks as they cross the Mediterranean. Josefs story starts with Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass in 1938. All three young people will go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. Alan Gratz is the bestselling author of a number of novels for young readers. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Josefs father is convinced there is a trap, so Josef and his mother go without him. They have come to arrest Josef's father: "Other Jewish homes and businesses and synagogues were destroyed all over Germany, and tens of . His mother, father, little brother Waleed, and baby sister Hana barely manage to escape the bombing of their apartment building. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs On their way to Switzerland, the Landaus unfortunately run into German soldiers. The St. Louis could not save Josef, just as the Castillos boat could not save Ivn. In doing so, he is able to atone for a past crime: he is Mariano Padron, one of the police officers who kept the passengers of the St. Louis from disembarking in Cuba in 1939, and only after stalling them for days with the false promise of maana. The Castillos have been secretly building a makeshift boat and the next day, they set out together for Miami. Refugee is both thrilling and heartrending. The novel follows the stories of three refugee children in three different geographic locations and points in time. Because of this, they all want to escape to a safer place. This section starts with Josefs perspective, somewhere on the Atlantic in 1939, 8 days from home (74). All are escaping persecution and seeking safety and freedom. | (read more from the Pages 164 - 215 Summary) More summaries and resources for teaching or studying Refugee (Alan Gratz). Pam Muoz Ryan, author of Echo and Esperanza Rising. This heart-stopping novel is not only compelling it is necessary. And why do children lead the novels action? Eventually, the rest of the family is rescued by the Greek Coast Guard and taken to Lesbos, where the coast is littered with the bodies of Syrian refugees who drowned in transit. Struggling with distance learning? With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America, Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. Josefs fathers mental state deteriorates further, and he eventually jumps from the ship, trying to kill himself. Isabels family and friends have always wanted to leave the country, but Castro will throw you in jail if you try to escape. This Study Guide consists of approximately 70pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. A passing, overcrowded boat cannot accommodate all of them, but at Mahmouds insistence, a woman onboard agrees to take Hana. Isabel wakes up, still in the boat, now 3 days from home. Chapter 34 Summary: "Josef: Just outside Havana Harbor1939" Aboard the MS St. Louis, the passengers give a hero's welcome to Officer Padronthe policeman who rescued Josef's father from the water. You'll also receive an email with the link. eNotes.com His father refuses to leave the cabin, thinking the gathering is a Nazi trap. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. If there are two dates, the date of publication and appearance From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Josefs father gets sent to a concentration camp. In what ways were they taken advantage of or harmed by the cruelty and apathy of others? Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 6 days, Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 8 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (1), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 10 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (2), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 11 days, Isabel: The Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (3), Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey 2015, 11 days (1), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 14 days, Isabel: The Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (4), Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey 2015, 11 days (2), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 17 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 2 days, Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (1), Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (2), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 4 days, Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (3), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 5 days (1), Mahmoud: Lesbos to Athens 2015, 12 days (3), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 5 days (2), Mahmoud: Macedonia to Serbia 2015, 14-15 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (1), Mahmoud: Serbia to Hungary 2015, 15-16 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (2), Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (3), Josef: Vornay, France 1940, 1 year, 1 month, 10 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (4), Mahmoud: Hungary to Germany 2015, 17 days. A storm sweeps them to the Bahamas, where they are not allowed to disembark; Ivn is attacked by sharks and eventually bleeds to death in the boat; and toward the end of the journey, Isabels pregnant mother goes into labor. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. However, beneath the surface, the ride isnt as perfect as it looks, and Josef has to take the initiative several times. After a riot in Havana, Isabels family decides that they should also leave Cuba immediately. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Josef's father, along with thousands of other Jewish men, was arrested and sent to Dachau, a concentration camp. Equally real are the events of 1994 depicted in the novel. In Isabels story, the water is choppy with sharks, representing the violence and uncertainty of her condition as well as fact: the ninety-mile stretch between Cuba and Florida is known to be shark territory. Captain Schroeder demonstrates how to change the ship's speed. It carried 937 Jewish refugees who were seeking freedom from Nazi persecution in Germany. Once he is released, the family flees to Cuba. Its other accolades include the Sydney Taylor Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction Award, a Charlotte Huck Award Honor, and a Malka Penn Award for . He is gaunt and thin; looking "like an escapee from a mental asylum" (36). Isabel Fernandez is an eleven-year-old girl who lives just outside Havana in 1994. It is called the most deadly conflict of the 21st century thus far, with 250,000 casualties and millions Syrians who have been forced to flee the devastation. After the police see Isabels father participate in a riot, there is no option but for the Fernandez family to leave Cuba by boat. The rest of the passengers grow angry. For the last few years, there has been a war in his country between the Syrian government, rebels, the Soviets, the United States and several other factions. Powerful and compelling. Fast paced, insightful, filled with drama and tension. In the end, these three stories are connected. This is an engaging tale. Josef, his father, mother, and little sister Ruthie are all asleep when their home is invaded during Kristallnacht, the night when Nazi police and "Brownshirts" were directed to destroy Jewish shops, homes, and synagogues, and terrorize Jewish citizens all across Germany. Lito tells the story of the St. Louis and how he had to turn away so many refugees when he was a young policeman. The St. Louis was an actual ship that sailed from Hamburg to Cuba in May, 1939 under the command of Captain Gustav Schrder. Complete your free account to request a guide. Making their way past ISIS operatives, they get to Turkey by road, where a boat is to take them to Greece tomorrow. Again, like it was for the Landaus at the Cuban coast, that tomorrow is deferred, day after day and week after week, and the family is forced to take shelter in an abandoned Turkish mall. Mahmoud decides that he no longer wants to be ignored and leads the refugees out of the prison, walking twelve hours to Austria. eNotes.com Lito atones for the past by treading water and returning to Cuba. Josef Landau is a twelve-year-old boy living in Berlin. Also, there are parallels between the three stories, and at the end, all of the three stories are connected. Empathy and Social Responsibility. -Graham S. Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Review: Refugee is a powerful novel about three very different children. At only 13, Josef takes on much of the family's responsibilities. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. They run into several problems, like being in bloody water with many sharks around on a sinking boat and there are high stakes at the end. Even amongst people who have lost everything, they still have empathy toward this man who showed the same courtesy to a fellow Jewish person. Ruta Sepetys, author of Between Shades of Gray. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. Isabel Fernandezis escaping Castro's Cuba in 1994. It only gets worse for them, but in the end, he learns a powerful life lesson: Its better to be visible than invisible, because even though the bad people can harm you, the good people can help you. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. This is a fascinating tale. On the sea, Mahmoud is marooned in the freezing Mediterranean, which ultimately capsizes his ramshackle raft. Filled with both tragic loss and ample evidence of resilience, these memorable and tightly plotted stories contextualize and give voice to current refugee crises, Exceptional readers Michael Goldstrom, Kyla Garcia, and Assaf Cohen tackle Gratzs compelling novel. Refugee is more than a story about children fleeing their homelands, it is a story about what unites us all love, family and perseverance. Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliantPoignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.