The Boy at the Back of the Class

Author: Onjali Q. Raúf
Illustrator: Pippa Curnick
Publisher: Orion Children’s Books
Year of Publication: 2018
Print Length: 320 pages
Genre: Fiction / Children, Children’s Books
Area: The United Kingdom (UK)
Topic: Children & Childhood, Education, Friendship & Companionship, Refugees & Forced Migration
WINNER OF THE BLUE PETER BOOK AWARD 2019
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE 2019
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2019
Told with heart and humour, The Boy at the Back of the Class is a child’s perspective on the refugee crisis, highlighting the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn’t always make sense.
There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it.
He’s nine years old (just like me), but he’s very strange. He never talks and never smiles and doesn’t like sweets – not even lemon sherbets, which are my favourite!
But then I learned the truth: Ahmet really isn’t very strange at all. He’s a refugee who’s run away from a War. A real one. With bombs and fires and bullies that hurt people. And the more I find out about him, the more I want to help.
That’s where my best friends Josie, Michael and Tom come in. Because you see, together we’ve come up with a plan…
Table of Contents
1. The Empty Chair
2. The Boy with the Lion Eyes
3. Forty Winks
4. What Mr Brown and Mrs Grimsby Said
5. The Refugee Kid
6. The Woman in the Silver Scarf
7. Mr Irons’ Nose
8. The Unexpected Adventure
9. The Big Fight
10. War and Missing Pieces
11. The Game of Scrabble
12. Syrah and the Sea
13. The Something that Changed Everything
14. The Three Plans
15. The Greatest Idea in the World
16. The Royal Letter
17. The Emergency Plan
18. Stan the Taxi Man
19. The Queen’s Palace
20. The Cold Stream Guards
21. The Neighbours and the News
22. World Wide Whispers
23. Brendan-the-Bully and the Breaking News
24. The Interview
25. The Queen’s Message
26. The Present

Onjali Q. Raúf is an award winning and best selling children’s author and activist. She is the founder of Making Herstory, an organisation mobilising men, women and children from all walks of life to tackle the abuse and trafficking of women and girls in the UK and beyond. In her spare time, she delivers emergency aid convoys for refugee families surviving in Calais and Dunkirk, and supports interfaith projects. She specialised in Women’s Studies at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and Oxford University. The Boy at the Back of the Class is her first novel.
Source: https://onjaliqrauf.com/
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