Refugee Boy

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For its educational merit I would rate this book a three or four. It is a clear endorsement of the Refugee Council, a real life organization in GB. It also raises awareness of a specific type of refugee conflict that most logical people would find hard to argue with (although GB still manages to). It offers a neutral-negative look at the culture around anti-refugee people in GB and the political system in dealing with refugees, but also gives some hope for those who are vocal (the community around refugees not the refugees themselves). It touches on the issue of stigma around people on food stamps and the living condition of orphans. Alem is a refugee from Ethiopia. His parents are both Eritrean and Ethiopian. Alem then escapes to England from a violent civil war in Badme, which at the time of the novel (2000/1999), was disputed to be either in Ethiopia or in Eritrea. In 1991, 14-year-old Alem and his father are in the capital of Eritrea, his mother's home country. When Alem is ten years old, he and his family move to Harar in Ethiopia, his father's country. In Ethiopia, his father gets a better job within the postal service, but Alem's mother loses her job because the Ethiopian workers say they are "at war with Eritrea, so they will not work with someone from Eritrea." Alem's father is then told by his co-workers that he must leave his wife because she is Eritrean and therefore "the enemy". The mother was held at point blank before pushed on the bus. I think Benjamin Zephaniah is a great writer. He has obviously listened to people in Alem’s shoes and he’s a deep thinker and he’s done the research and you can feel that he is so inspired. Benjamin Zephaniah intentions and objective are to demonstrate the anguish and struggles that many asylum seekers have to go through in England. This line sums up the book, the message of ‘this is not the end’ is a aphorism we can certainly carry into all the we do. No matter how hard Alem found it it was the the end till it was the end.

So, if that kind of thing bothers you, read the book. But do read the book. It might be for young people, but it's powerful enough to speak to us all. Alem was sent to live in a care home for boys. He slept in a room with Stanley Burton. He also made a friend named Mustafa. Later, the caretakers decide to put Alem in a foster home with Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald and their daughter Ruth. At one point during his stay with the Fitzgeralds, he receives a letter from his father stating that Alem's mother was murdered.Chapter 20: Robert wants to organise a protest about the treatment of Alem and his father. Sheila comes to say that Alem must leave the Fitzgeralds and live in the hotel with Mr Kelo. Alem and Mr Kelo head to a meeting of the protest group and are surprised by the support they have. The author took ideas from many writers and books, which are related to refugees to make this book unique and special to the readers. He attempt to influence the readers with a combination of layout, emotions are raised, and guilt is created to feel sorry for Alem and it shows how to be strong when people have to deal with problematic situation that they face while they are living in a children's home. Told from the point of view of teenager Alem Kelo, born out of Eritrea and Ethiopia and unfairly punished for it amidst the conflicts between the two countries, we are given a perspective of what the life of an asylum seeker might look like. This is special, this is important to bring awareness to. Despite the tragedies, I found this story uplifting because Alem, although losing his roots in the UK to the care of excellent people, and brought to a life of education and good friends. I'm not sure, however, how many young unaccompanied and separated children refugees, and asylum seekers have such support in their daunting journeys toward safety and acceptance. Finally, Alem is awarded asylum. The author then notes that the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments signed a peace treaty in Algeria on 20 December 2000.

Do you know anyone who has had to leave their home country due to conflict or difficult circumstances? Acclaimed performance poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah's honest, wry and poignant story of a young refugee left in London is of even more power and pertinence today than when it was first published. Chapter 21: Alem moves into the hotel. The protest group has a campaign meeting. There is a benefit gig at the school. Robert (Roberto) Alem’s friend from school, he always smokes and he tried to get Alem to smoke. His real name is Roberto Fernandez.

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Chapter 5: Alem arrives at the home and meets some of the staff and children. He is threatened by a tough boy. Mustafa ( a boy) tells him that the bully is called Sweeney. Alem shares a room with a boy called Stanley who has a nightmare during the night. In the article entitled "A Postcolonial Approach to Contemporary RefugeeLiterature: Benjamin Zephaniah’s Refugee Boy", Sercan Hamza Bağlama points out that the novel "fictionalises the refugee experience in a ‘strange’ land and exposes the traumatic effects of war and politics upon innocent people through its 14-year-old Eritrean-Ethiopian protagonist, Alem Kelo, who has fled the war and ended up as a refugee in the UK" [2] and that the novel can therefore be categorised as an example of contemporary refugee literature. Absolutely incredible story - I was stunned to find out at the end that it was fictional! I honestly thought this was a true story. Man. Stanley: A kid at the care home. He shared a room with Alem; Stanley always talked when he was asleep about his mum and his family was separated.

but I assure you it's not. It's full of humour, and the roller-coaster ride that you go on with Alem. It's definitely, definitely one to read. Refugee Boy was Benjamin Zephaniah's fifth book. It won the 2002 Portsmouth Book Award in the Longer Novel category. According to the opening to the book, the reason Zephaniah wrote the book is because he heard lots of different refugee stories and he combined the stories to create the book. Alem awaits his father at home with the certificate but instead his social worker comes to the door along with a police officer to inform him that his father has been shot and killed while leaving the London branch of EAST. Alem is returned to the Fitzgerald's' and receives a letter with his appeal date for 27 March.

Chapter 16: Alem and Robert enjoy their bike ride however Alem’s bike is stolen on his way home. Unexpectedly, Mr Kelo comes to see him. He and Alem go out for dinner. Chapter 24: The News There is a news report about Mr Kelo’s death. The police think the killing was political. From this point in the novel I felt sympathy for Alem’s family, all they wanted was peace yet they were not welcome anywhere. I enjoyed the way Zephaniah represented Alem; as a child who sees all people the same, and wants them to be treated equally. The novel was the recipient of the 2002 Portsmouth Book Award in the Longer Novel category. [1] Plot [ edit ]

This book is the story of Alem; his father is Ethiopian , his mother is Eritrean. His countries are at war, he is not accepted in either. So when his father takes him on a holiday to London he is excited. But then his father disappears and not all is as it seems.

While Alem is facing all of these new challenges, he's slowly starting to make new friends. I really like this part of the book, with Alem and his foster sister, Ruth. Alem shows Ruth a photo of him and his parents. Chapter 4: Alem exits the hotel with Mariam and Pamela, he is taken to their office where they fill in his application form for asylum. They have arranged for him to stay at a children’s home. Chapter 3: Alem explains the difficulties he and his family faced because of the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He explains that they were not welcome in either country.