In Search of Safety: Voices of Refugees

Five refugees recount their courageous journeys to America - and the unimaginable struggles that led them to flee their homelands - in a powerful work from the author of Beyond Magenta and We Are Here to Stay.

“From 1984, when I was born, until July 16, 2017, when I arrived in the United States, I never lived in a place where there was no war.” - Fraidoon

An Iraqi woman who survived capture by ISIS. A Sudanese teen growing up in civil war and famine. An Afghan interpreter for the U.S. Army living under threat of a fatwa. They are among the five refugees who share their stories in award-winning author and photographer Susan Kuklin's latest masterfully crafted narrative. The five, originally from Afghanistan, Myanmar, South Sudan, Iraq, and Burundi, give gripping first-person testimonies about what it is like to flee war, face violent threats, grow up in a refugee camp, be sold into slavery, and resettle in America. This work is essential reading for understanding the devastating impact of war and persecution - and the power of resilience, optimism, and the will to survive.

1133016519
In Search of Safety: Voices of Refugees

Five refugees recount their courageous journeys to America - and the unimaginable struggles that led them to flee their homelands - in a powerful work from the author of Beyond Magenta and We Are Here to Stay.

“From 1984, when I was born, until July 16, 2017, when I arrived in the United States, I never lived in a place where there was no war.” - Fraidoon

An Iraqi woman who survived capture by ISIS. A Sudanese teen growing up in civil war and famine. An Afghan interpreter for the U.S. Army living under threat of a fatwa. They are among the five refugees who share their stories in award-winning author and photographer Susan Kuklin's latest masterfully crafted narrative. The five, originally from Afghanistan, Myanmar, South Sudan, Iraq, and Burundi, give gripping first-person testimonies about what it is like to flee war, face violent threats, grow up in a refugee camp, be sold into slavery, and resettle in America. This work is essential reading for understanding the devastating impact of war and persecution - and the power of resilience, optimism, and the will to survive.

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In Search of Safety: Voices of Refugees

In Search of Safety: Voices of Refugees

Unabridged — 5 hours, 34 minutes

In Search of Safety: Voices of Refugees

In Search of Safety: Voices of Refugees

Unabridged — 5 hours, 34 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

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Overview

Five refugees recount their courageous journeys to America - and the unimaginable struggles that led them to flee their homelands - in a powerful work from the author of Beyond Magenta and We Are Here to Stay.

“From 1984, when I was born, until July 16, 2017, when I arrived in the United States, I never lived in a place where there was no war.” - Fraidoon

An Iraqi woman who survived capture by ISIS. A Sudanese teen growing up in civil war and famine. An Afghan interpreter for the U.S. Army living under threat of a fatwa. They are among the five refugees who share their stories in award-winning author and photographer Susan Kuklin's latest masterfully crafted narrative. The five, originally from Afghanistan, Myanmar, South Sudan, Iraq, and Burundi, give gripping first-person testimonies about what it is like to flee war, face violent threats, grow up in a refugee camp, be sold into slavery, and resettle in America. This work is essential reading for understanding the devastating impact of war and persecution - and the power of resilience, optimism, and the will to survive.


Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Kuklin, who has previously written about similar issues (see 2019's We Are Here To Stay), does a brilliant job of capturing and transmitting the gripping, often raw, but always hopeful first-person testimonies, and readers cannot help but feel empathy for the individuals as they learn the horrors they survived (but never overcame, in some cases). A brutal, must-read account.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The firsthand accounts of war, abduction into sex slavery, torture, and loss can be difficult to read, but they make plain the desperate plight of people seeking asylum, making this work an important addition to any collection. Each story is accompanied by explanatory text from the author, along with photographs that acquaint the reader with the refugee and their circumstances. Back matter provides information on the resettling process, agencies mentioned, and a historical timeline for each country.
—Publishers Weekly Online (starred review)

Representing Afghanistan, Myanmar, South Sudan, Iraq, and Burundi, these five refugees all offer testimony on the realities of growing up in a refugee camp, being sold into slavery, and then finding refuge. All five refugees possess the will to survive and to seek safety for themselves and their families...The book calls attention to problems in countries at war and how people can seek help, become a citizen, or resettle in the United States through certain agencies.
—School Library Connection

This continues Kuklin’s substantial body of nonfiction centering the lives of marginalized individuals...Candid and posed photographs add valuable visual information. A significant theme threading through the stories is how long and involved the refugee resettlement experience is, usually taking years, reams of paperwork, and constant diligence on the part of every person involved. A necessary addition to middle-school curriculum.
—Booklist

The circumstances of all five refugees were perilous and frightening; their tenacity and courage (and even humor) are salutary. An exemplary appendix of notes and resources broadens the impact of the individual accounts; the accounts themselves personalize the crisis and statistics.
—The Horn Book

The photo-illustrated stories range from heartbreaking to utterly terrifying, and even the smoothest outcomes involve danger, disorientation, or multiple attempts to find a location that offers support, employment, and education...Readers who found Kuklin’s We Are Here to Stay (BCCB 12/18) illuminating will want to explore this facet of American immigration.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

AUGUST 2020 - AudioFile

Five young people represent the voices of refugees, sharing their desperate real-life journeys to Nebraska. The three men don’t dwell on horrific details, so narrator Josh Bloomberg often sounds friendly or hopeful. When he tells the story of Fraidoon, an Afghani translator, Bloomberg captures the man’s certainty that the U.S. will rescue him. Narrator Deepti Gupta delivers the tragic stories of Nyarout and Shireen. Gupta stoically portrays Nyarout’s sufferings in a refugee camp, joyfully exclaims over her discovery of indoor showers, and determinedly recounts her transition to self-sufficiency. Shireen’s account of torture by ISIS in Iraq is difficult to hear. In a flat voice, she says, "I've seen women sold for as little as one dollar. I was sold five times." Vivienne Leheny delivers the captions for the accompanying photos. Note: There are disturbing depictions in these stories. L.T. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2020-02-09
Chronicles the painful, yet powerfully uplifting, stories of five refugees who came to the U.S. in search of better futures.

The people sharing their stories are Shireen, a Yazidi woman from Iraq who was sold into sex slavery by the Islamic State group; Nyarout, a Nuer woman from South Sudan who grew up in civil war and famine; Fraidoon, a Tajik man from Afghanistan living under the threat of a fatwa; Nathan, a Karen man from Myanmar who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand; and Dieudonné, a Hutu and Tutsi man from Burundi who fled ethnic cleansing at age 4. Written in a forthright and unembellished manner and not for the faint of heart, this book will find its place among essential readings for understanding the devastating toll conflicts have on populations throughout the world. It is also a beautiful testimony—a lesson in life, really—to the power of resilience and will to survive displayed by each of the five protagonists, now resettled in Nebraska. Kuklin, who has previously written about similar issues (see 2019’s We Are Here To Stay), does a brilliant job of capturing and transmitting the gripping, often raw, but always hopeful first-person testimonies, and readers cannot help but feel empathy for the individuals as they learn the horrors they survived (but never overcame, in some cases).

A brutal, must-read account. (maps, sources, author’s note, chapter notes, timelines, resources, index) (Nonfiction. 14-18)

Product Details

BN ID: 2940173182586
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication date: 06/29/2020
Edition description: Unabridged
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