Alone: The Journeys of Three Young Refugees
by Paul Tom (Author) Mélanie Baillairgé (Illustrator)
Each year, more than 400 minors arrive alone in Canada requesting refugee status. They arrive without their parents, accompanied by no adult at all.
Alone relates the journey of three of them: Afshin, Alain and Patricia. Their story opens a window onto the many heartbreaks, difficult sacrifices and countless hardships that punctuate their obstacle-filled path. But Alone most especially tells of the courage and resilience that these young people demonstrated before being able to finally obtain a life where threats and danger are no longer a part of their everyday existence.
Key Text Features:
author's note
captions
chapters
character drawings
comic
map
dialogue
flags
further information
illustrations
introduction
maps
writing inspiration
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3 Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7 Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
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Publishers Weekly
Adapting documentary film Seuls into an engrossing book for young readers, debut author Tom--who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand--follows three unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in Canada after fleeing their respective homelands. In each chapter, tight first-person narration alternates between the book's subjects, following second-person lines directed at readers ("Imagine that you're going away"). In Tehran, the parents of 13-year-old Afshin fear he'll be killed in the Iranian wars; when they send him away to keep him alive, he looks forward to the journey without realizing its long-term implications. In Burundi, 13-year-old Alain, the son of a political prisoner, escapes with his mother and brothers to Kenya, where a two-year delay and a tragic event leave the boys in limbo. For Patricia, a queer 16-year-old in Uganda, "if other people find out... it means prison and persecution for our family and even worse," but leaving means losing "the enveloping weight" of her mother's love. Baillairgé's digital illustrations employ a limited palette that reflects the flags of Burundi, Kenya, and Iran, and a stylized, minimalist approach hones three complex story lines down to a sharply rendered tale whose chapters trace experiences of "Leaving Everything Behind" through the subjects' developing "Hope for Tomorrow." A glossary concludes. Ages 8-12. (May)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
Blunt, heartbreaking, and hopeful. ... On a muted canvas peppered with stark reds and greens, illustrator Mélanie Baillairgé storyboards the bitterness of separation and the bittersweet relief of arrivals. In Alone, these tender and real stories find shelter. — Montreal Review of Books
JNF038040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | People & Places | Canada
