Selected for The Pleasure List 2026 - Hay Festival's crowd-sourced list of the 39 most unputdownable books ever
'Playful, obstinate and courageously humorous ... hilarious and later heartbreaking' Guardian
'Sweet, funny, highly inventive' Yorkshire Post
The poignant but funny tale of a young refugee now marking its 25th anniversary with a new foreword by Joseph Coelho, former Children's Laureate
Acclaimed performance poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah's honest, wry and poignant story of a young refugee left in London is of even more power and pertinence today than when it was first published.
Life is not safe for Alem. His father is Ethopian, his mother Eritrean. Their countries are at war, and Alem is welcome in neither place.
So Alem is excited to spend a holiday in London with his father - until he wakes up to find him gone. What seems like a betrayal is in fact an act of love, but now Alem is alone in a strange country, and he must forge his own path...
Very accessible and easy to read; perfect for reading for pleasure and classroom discussion. QR code link to new Teachers' Notes included in anniversary edition.
Brilliantly written and with a real ear for dialogue, fans of Angie Thomas and Malorie Blackman will love Benjamin Zephaniah's novels for young adult readers:
Refugee Boy
Face
Gangsta Rap
Teacher's Dead
| ISBN: | 9781408894996 |
| Publication date: | 7th September 2017 |
| Author: | Benjamin Zephaniah |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Children's Books an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 284 pages |
| Genres: |
Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories Children’s / Teenage fiction: School stories Narrative theme: Coming of age Narrative theme: Displacement, exile, migration |
Selected for The Pleasure List 2026 - Hay Festival's crowd-sourced list of the 39 most unputdownable books ever
'Playful, obstinate and courageously humorous ... hilarious and later heartbreaking' Guardian
'Sweet, funny, highly inventive' Yorkshire Post
The poignant but funny tale of a young refugee now marking its 25th anniversary with a new foreword by Joseph Coelho, former Children's Laureate
Acclaimed performance poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah's honest, wry and poignant story of a young refugee left in London is of even more power and pertinence today than when it was first published.
Life is not safe for Alem. His father is Ethopian, his mother Eritrean. Their countries are at war, and Alem is welcome in neither place.
So Alem is excited to spend a holiday in London with his father - until he wakes up to find him gone. What seems like a betrayal is in fact an act of love, but now Alem is alone in a strange country, and he must forge his own path...
Very accessible and easy to read; perfect for reading for pleasure and classroom discussion. QR code link to new Teachers' Notes included in anniversary edition.
Brilliantly written and with a real ear for dialogue, fans of Angie Thomas and Malorie Blackman will love Benjamin Zephaniah's novels for young adult readers:
Refugee Boy
Face
Gangsta Rap
Teacher's Dead
Refugee Boy features in the following genres: Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: School stories, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Narrative theme: Displacement, exile, migration
Refugee Boy is available in Paperback
Refugee Boy was written by Benjamin Zephaniah and published by Bloomsbury Children's Books an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
Refugee Boy has 284 pages
£8.09