We have curated a collection of recommended reads for Refugee week, this book list contains fiction and non-fiction for all ages.
Refugee Week is a remarkable arts and culture festival that honours the contributions, creativity, and resilience of refugees and individuals seeking sanctuary. Originating in the UK in 1998, this annual event coincides with World Refugee Day, observed globally on June 20th. It brings together people from diverse backgrounds, fostering deeper understanding and empathy for the experiences of refugees and displaced individuals.
Find out more about Refugee Week by visiting: refugeeweek.org.uk
Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin
![Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/3-2.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Adult Fiction
There are the goodbyes and then the fishing out of the bodies – everything in between is speculation.
One night, not long after the last American troops leave Vietnam, siblings Anh, Thanh and Minh flee their village and embark on a perilous journey in hope of a new life. Separated from their parents and fearing the worst they find themselves travelling alone in the world without a home to return to.
After a twist of fate lands them in Thatcher’s Britain, they must somehow build new lives there. Will the love they have for each other be enough to keep them together?
Xanthe and the Ruby Crown by Jasbinder Bilan
![Xanthe and the Ruby Crown by Jasbinder Bilan](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/4-3.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Young Adult Fiction
Xanthe loves visiting her gran in her flat with its rooftop garden.
But Nani is becoming forgetful – and Xanthe wishes she could help her, if only she knew how.
A mysterious cat shows her a way. It leads Xanthe to clues about Nani’s childhood, and how, long ago, she had to escape her old life in Africa for a new one in Britain…
The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen
![The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/5-3.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Adult Fiction
The Committed follows the Sympathizer as he arrives in Paris as a refugee. There he and his blood brother Bon try to escape their pasts and prepare for their futures by turning their hands to capitalism in one of its purest forms: drug dealing.
No longer in physical danger, but still inwardly tortured by his re-education at the hands of his former best friend, and struggling to assimilate into a dominant culture, the Sympathizer is both charmed and disturbed by Paris.
As he falls in with a group of left-wing intellectuals and politicians who frequent dinner parties given by his French Vietnamese “aunt,” he finds not just stimulation for his mind but also customers for his merchandise – but the new life he is making has dangers he has not foreseen, from the oppression of the state, to the self-torture of addiction, to the seemingly unresolvable paradox of how he can reunite his two closest friends, men whose worldviews put them in absolute opposition.
The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri
![The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/6-2.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Adult Non-Fiction
Aged eight, Dina Nayeri fled Iran along with her mother and brother, and lived in the crumbling shell of an Italian hotel-turned-refugee camp. Eventually she was granted asylum in America.
Now, Nayeri weaves together her own vivid story with those of other asylum seekers in recent years. In these pages, women gather to prepare the noodles that remind them of home, a closeted queer man tries to make his case truthfully as he seeks asylum and a translator attempts to help new arrivals present their stories to officials.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
![The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/7-2.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Adult Fiction
Afghanistan, 1975: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives.
After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
![A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/8.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Adult Fiction
Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry the troubled and bitter Rasheed, who is thirty years her senior. Nearly two decades later, in a climate of growing unrest, tragedy strikes fifteen-year-old Laila, who must leave her home and join Mariam’s unhappy household. Laila and Mariam are to find consolation in each other, their friendship to grow as deep as the bond between sisters, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter.
With the passing of time comes Taliban rule over Afghanistan, the streets of Kabul loud with the sound of gunfire and bombs, life a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, the women’s endurance tested beyond their worst imaginings. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism. In the end it is love that triumphs over death and destruction.
When Stars are Scattered by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson
![When Stars are Scattered by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/9.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Based on a true story, for Children
Omar and his brother Hassan, two Somali boys, have spent a long time in the Dadaab refugee camp.
Separated from their mother, they are looked after by a friendly stranger. Life in the camp isn’t always easy. The hunger is constant . . . but there’s football to look forward to, and now there’s a chance Omar will get to go to school . . .
With a heart-wrenching fairytale ending, this incredible true story is brought to life by Victoria’s stunning illustrations. This book perfectly depicts life in a refugee camp for 8-12 year olds.
We Are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai
![We Are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/10.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Adult Non-Fiction
Nobel Peace Prize winner and bestselling author Malala Yousafzai introduces some of the faces behind the statistics and news stories we read or hear every day about the millions of people displaced worldwide.
Malala’s experiences visiting refugee camps caused her to reconsider her own displacement – first as an Internally Displaced Person when she was a young child in Pakistan, and then as an international activist who could travel anywhere in the world, except to the home she loved. In We Are Displaced, which is part memoir, part communal storytelling, Malala not only explores her own story of adjusting to a new life while longing for home, but she also shares the personal stories of some of the incredible girls she has met on her various journeys – girls who have lost their community, relatives, and often the only world they’ve ever known.
In a time of immigration crises, war and border conflicts, We Are Displaced is an important reminder from one of the world’s most prominent young activists that every single one of the 68.5 million currently displaced is a person – often a young person – with hopes and dreams, and that everyone deserves universal human rights and a safe home.
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
![I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/I-am-Malala-by-Malala-Yousafzai.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Adult Non-Fiction
‘I am Malala’ tells the inspiring story of a schoolgirl who was determined not to be intimidated by extremists, and faced the Taliban with immense courage. Malala speaks of her continuing campaign for every girl’s right to an education, shining a light into the lives of those children who cannot attend school.
This book is also part of our Centenary Collection!
Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah
![Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/12-1.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Adult Fiction
Salim has always believed that his father does not want him. Living with his parents and his adored Uncle Amir in a house full of secrets, he is a bookish child, a dreamer haunted by night terrors.
It is the 1970s and Zanzibar is changing. Tourists arrive, the island’s white sands obscuring the memory of recent conflict: longed-for independence from British colonialism swiftly followed by bloody revolution.
When his father moves out, retreating into dishevelled introspection, Salim is confused and ashamed. His mother explains neither this nor her absences with a strange man; silence is layered on silence.
When glamorous Uncle Amir, now a senior diplomat, offers Salim an escape, the lonely teenager travels to London for college. But nothing has prepared him for the biting cold and seething crowds of this hostile city. Struggling to find a foothold, and to understand the darkness at the heart of his family, Salim must face devastating truths about himself and those closest to him – and about love, sex and power.
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
![Exit West by Mohsin Hamid](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/13-1.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Adult Fiction
All over the world, doors are appearing.
They lead to other cities, other countries, other lives.
And in a city gripped by war, Nadia and Saeed are newly in love.
Hardly more than strangers, desperate to survive, they open a door and step through.
But the doors only go one way.
Once you leave, there is no going back.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
![The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/14-1.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Adult Fiction
At a café table in Lahore, a Pakistani man begins the tale that has led to his fateful meeting with an uneasy American stranger . . .
Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. He thrives on the energy of New York, his work at an elite firm, and his budding relationship. For a time, it seems that nothing will stand in the way of his meteoric rise to success.
But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his relationship crumbling and his exalted status overturned. Allegiances are subsequently unearthed, proving themselves more fundamental than money, power and maybe even love.
Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo
![Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/15-1.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Children’s Fiction
When twelve-year-old Sade’s mother is killed, she and her little brother Femi are forced to flee from their home in Nigeria to Britain. They’re not allowed to tell anyone – not even their best friends – as their whole journey is secret, dangerous – and illegal.
Their dad promises to follow when he can, but once the children arrive in London, things go from bad to worse when they’re abandoned by the people they had been told would protect them.
Sade faces challenge after challenge – but her dad has always taught her to stand up for what is right, and to tell the truth no matter what. And with that strength of spirit in her heart, Sade will find the courage to fight for the new, happy life she, Femi and her dad deserve.
Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Rauf
![Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Rauf](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/16-1.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Children’s Fiction
On a perfectly ordinary school day, something extraordinary happens: a boy with pale skin, lion eyes and a tattered red rucksack walks in. Unable to speak English and seated at the back of the class, Ahmet ‘the refugee kid’ becomes the perfect target for bullies and rumours alike.
But Ahmet has also captured the attention and empathy of a fellow classmate, who will do anything to help him find his family. Even if that involves a plan – or five, and the Queen herself!
Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird
![Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/17.png?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1)
Children’s Fiction
welve-year-old Omar and his brothers and sisters were born and raised in the beautiful and bustling city of Bosra, Syria. Omar doesn’t care about politics – all he wants is to grow up to become a successful businessman who will take the world by storm. But when his clever older brother, Musa, gets mixed up with some young political activists, everything changes . . .
Before long, bombs are falling, people are dying, and Omar and his family have no choice but to flee their home with only what they can carry. Yet no matter how far they run, the shadow of war follows them – until they have no other choice than to attempt the dangerous journey to escape their homeland altogether. But where do you go when you can’t go home?