More on Refugees - domestic and global issues

THE FAR AWAY BROTHERS by Lauren Markham is a narrative non-fiction work which tells the story of “Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life.” Twin seventeen year-old brothers, Ernesto and Raul Flores, flee dangerous gang threats in El Salvador and attempt to start a life in California. As the publisher says, they are “fighting to survive, to stay, and to belong.” After paying a coyote and travelling through the desert, they ultimately reach an older brother in San Jose, and then move to Oakland, where they enroll in high school and apply for eligibility for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.

Markham has spent over a decade working in refugee resettlement and immigrant education and she weaves numerous facts into the Flores brothers’ story. Many, particularly those related to violence and femicide in El Salvador, are shocking and difficult to read. As just one example, Amnesty International reported in 2010 that 6 out of 10 migrant woman and girls were sexually assaulted en route to the United States. Markham discusses potential policy shifts and the moral and pragmatic implications of the situation in her afterword which is accompanied by numerous sources and followed by a comprehensive index.

THE FAR AWAY BROTHERS received a starred review from Kirkus; this year we are planning to booktalk it as a possible text for interested students to read for Junior Theme.  I can see supplementing this title with excerpts from Tell Me How It Ends or perhaps contrasting it with a fictional work such as A Radius of Us or Lucky Boy or Behold the Dreamers.

GO, WENT, GONE by Jenny Erpenbeck is a fictional account focusing on the refugee crisis in Europe. Originally written in German, it is translated by Susan Bernofsky. The main character is Richard, a recently retired classics professor who is increasingly troubled by and drawn to the immigrants he meets in Berlin.  Richard learns of ten African refugees who are conducting a hunger strike before Berlin's Town Hall, eventually works to apply for asylum for them, and even invites one to his home to play piano.  

For me, this book was a fascinating look at another country as well as an exploration of a hotly debated social issue. I was surprised at how much seemingly tangential information I learned from reading GO, WENT, GONE; for example, did you know that there is more uranium in Niger than nearly anywhere else in the world?  Our global inter-connectedness is highlighted by books like this which seek to foster dialogue and understanding across cultures. I am grateful and proud that our local libraries have them available for patrons especially when just this week, the President of the United Nations decried the US government’s decision to pull out of yet another non-binding international agreement, the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants which pledged to uphold the rights of refugees, help them resettle and ensure they have access to education and jobs. Keep reading and stay informed. Erpenbeck is an award-winning author and GO, WENT, GONE received a starred review from Kirkus.