Description
A treacherous voyage across the open seas is the last hope for safety and freedom for five young people from around the world.
The phenomenon of desperate refugees risking their lives to reach safety is not new. For hundreds of years, people have left behind family, friends, and all they know in hope of a better life. This book presents five true stories about young people who lived through the harrowing experience of setting sail in search of asylum: Ruth and her family board the St. Louis to escape Nazism; Phu sets out alone from war-torn Vietnam; José tries to reach the U.S. from Cuba; Najeeba flees Afghanistan and the Taliban; Mohamed, an orphan, runs from his village on the Ivory Coast. Aimed at middle grade students, Stormy Seas combines a contemporary collage-based design, sidebars, fact boxes, timeline and further reading to produce a book that is ideal for both reading and research. Readers will gain new insights into a situation that has constantly been making the headlines.
Awards
- Short-listed, Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award finalist 2018
- Joint winner, Top Ten Best Bet, Ontario Library Association 2018
- Joint winner, VOYA Nonfiction Honor List 2018
- Joint winner, EUREKA! Nonfiction Children’s Book Awards, California Reading Association 2017
- Joint winner, Booklist Editors’ Choice List 2017
- Joint winner, Booklist Top 10 Diverse Nonfiction for Older and Middle Readers 2018
- Joint winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre 2017
- Joint winner, Books of the Year, Quill & Quire 2017
- Joint winner, Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List 2018
- Short-listed, Bangkok Book Awards finalist 2017
- Commended, Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award, Honor Book 2018
- Nominated, Cybils Bloggers’ Literary Awards nomination 2017
- Short-listed, Maine Student Book Award finalist 2018
- Joint winner, Skipping Stones Honor Award 2018
- Joint winner, Nautilus Book Award, Silver 2019
- Joint winner, Notable Books for a Global Society 2018
- Short-listed, Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist 2018
- Joint winner, Chicago Public Library’s Best Books List 2017
- Nominated, Rocky Mountain Book Award nomination 2017
- Joint winner, White Ravens Collection, International Youth Library, Munich 2018
- Joint winner, Independent Publisher Book Award 2018
- Short-listed, Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award 2020
Reviews
“Gut-punch of a volume . . . offers an affecting perspective on the plight of refugees and emphasizes that this human-rights crisis is an ongoing, urgent issue.”
- Booklist, *starred review, 04/15/17
“It’s hard not to be moved by the sagas of these adolescents desperate to find a better life.”
- Cooperstown Crier, 11/16/17
“A wonderful addition to a unit of study on refugees, immigration, and/or multiculturalism.”
- Green Teacher, Winter/19
“Timely stories of courage and resilience.”
- The Banner, 08/04/17
“An important and powerful book that is sure to spark discussion about the refugee crisis. A must have purchase for school and public libraries.”
- CM Reviews, 09/15/17
“A timely, powerful piece of nonfiction, this is a first purchase for most collections.”
- School Library Journal, *starred review, 04/17
“Harrowing, wrenching, and hopeful.”
- Publishers Weekly, *starred review, 03/27/17
“An extraordinary resource, compelling in content and useful as a resource to launch research.”
- Unpacking the Power of Picture Books, 07/16/17
“The format helps a great deal as well as the overall layout that appeared somewhat like a newsletter, chunking the information into bite-size pieces that even the more reluctant readers would be drawn to read.”
- Gathering Books, 11/28/17
“[The] stories get gorgeously, affectingly enhanced by London-based artist Eleanor Shakespeare.”
- Bookdragon, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, 04/17
“Should be shared in late middle and high school classrooms.”
- Sal’s Fiction Addiction, 07/22/18