St. Bernard’s Community Book

St. Bernard’s selected a book for students and teachers to read over the summer.  Boys in Grades V-IX and teachers in all grades read Refugee by Alan Gratz.

The entire school gathered for a special Thursday assembly on September 20 to discuss Refugee.  Eighth and ninth graders presented plot summaries to the younger boys who hadn’t read the book.  They shared insights and made connections between the three narratives that are interwoven throughout the book: Josef, who fled Germany with his family in 1938, Isabel, who left Cuba in 1954 with her family and neighbors, and Mahmoud, who left Syria with his family in 2015.

After the assembly, boys returned to their homerooms to continue discussing the book.  Some classes held discussions within their homeroom sections.  Boys in grades V-IX were paired with students in another grade and continued the discussion with each other.  The discussions varied in size and format, and there was an audible buzz throughout the school as boys of all ages talked about what they had read and learned.

The first community book has successfully brought together several activities that St. B’s values, reading, learning about history and different cultures, and coming together as a community.  We look forward to a year ahead that is rich with conversations about Refugee and the themes found within its pages.

Below are the insights from Upper School student Oliver H., who was one of the presenters at the all-school assembly.

Alan Gratz once observed: “You can live as a ghost, waiting for death to come, or you can dance.”  His most recent book, Refugee, celebrates this drive to survive through the eyes of three children who were forced to leave their countries in order to escape war, persecution, or violence.  He introduces us to Josef, a brave Jewish boy who flees Nazi Germany with his family on a ship bound for Cuba.  Then there’s Isabel, a Cuban girl who seizes the opportunity to get her loved ones away from Fidel Castro on a makeshift boat bound for the United States.  Finally, there’s 12-year-old Mahmoud, a bold Muslim who bolts from the horrors of the Syrian Civil War for Germany.  The details of their journeys might be different, but Gratz shows us that Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud actually share a common experience that many of us can learn from: what it’s really like to be a refugee.

Gratz blows up many myths some people might have of refugees.  For instance, if refugees are poor, it is because many had to suddenly leave their home countries with little more than the clothes on their backs.  If they are dirty, it is because they don’t have a place to wash. If they have a hard time relating to us, it is because they don’t speak our language or understand our customs.  Gratz also puts a human face on immigration by having us consider it from the perspective of children.  Most refugees involve entire families being displaced.  Sometimes, the real heroes are the youngest who have to adapt to survive.  Gratz makes an excellent case that refugees should be helped and even admired.  Refugees need to have grit, persistence, resilience, and determination.  They made tremendous sacrifices in the hopes of a better life and future.

Many of us might wonder how we would react if we were suddenly put in a similar situation.  Do we have what it takes to rise above such unfortunate circumstances?  Could we be as resourceful as Isabel in figuring out how to pay for things without money?  Could we be as bold as Mahmoud in talking our way out of being killed by enemy forces?  Would we have the guts to sacrifice ourselves for a loved one, the way Josef does to save his little sister?  Luckily, many of us will never have to know.

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