Leatherdale, Mary Beth and Eleanor Shakespeare. Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees. 2017. 56p. ISBN 978-1-55451-895-1. Available at 305.9 LEA on the library shelves.
Children seeking refuge in another country were in the news during the spring of 2018, but this phenomenon is ancient. People, including children flee their homes for a variety of reasons, including wars, violence, climate change, and a lack of opportunities. For most, the decision to leave represents a hope that life will be better elsewhere. Others have no choice and did not want to leave.
Though every journey is different, most refugee stories share similarities of abuse and despair along one of the most harrowing trek anyone will ever make. Stormy Seas presents the journey five youths have made to a new home over the last eighty years. Each person tells his or her story in their own words, providing a vivid look at a reality most of us will never, thankfully, have to experience. Background information to each event is provided, and the gorgeous illustrations facilitate comprehension of this difficult topic.
Readers interested in resilience and the triumph of hope over despair will appreciate how each youth survived their journey and overcame the obstacles standing in their way to achieve a relative level of peace and security they would not have found at home.
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