Refugee wins over Passion of Dolssa

Refugee by Alan Gratz

We all found this story engaging and emotionally heart wrenching. We think it is a
fantastic novel for showing middle school children other realities and teaching
empathy,  and that we are all human beings and should be treated as such.  
It is disheartening that the realities of our histories continue to repeat
in times of war.  The author did a wonderful job of connecting the stories and
leaving the reader with a sense of hope.

As I read Refugee, I was reminded of something my dad always tried to
explain to me, “You have it soo easy living in Canada. You have no idea how
lucky you are!”. While that continues to be true,Refugee offered me glimpses
of what it’s like to live a less fortunate life. I think this story has a lot of
merit for classroom use.

I was engaged by the idea that these stories were connected and it reminded
me of the Red Thread of Fate. According to this myth, the gods tie an invisible
red cord around the ankles of those that are destined to meet one another in a
certain situation or help each other in a certain way.

The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

We all quite enjoyed this story, as adult readers, although at times it did seem
a bit drawn out.

As one of our teachers said, “ I don’t normally read a lot of Historical Fiction
story and had to keep reading to find out what happened to the characters.”  
Over all, we don’t think this will be a great fit for Div 2 classrooms.
However, I think it might work for an ambitious Div 3 reader. I’m unsure the typical
student would be up to the challenge of the Latin and OE words and phrases,
and religious content.

Overall Refugee gets our VOTE!