Finding Refuge: Real-Life Immigration Stories from Young People

by Victorya Rouse

What is a refugee? This anthology recounts the personal immigration experiences of teenage refugees from around the world, including where they came from, why they left, how they arrived in the United States, and what happened next. These writers know firsthand it means to leave a beloved but unsafe homeland for a distant place where everyone speaks another language.

English teacher Victorya Rouse has assembled a collection of real-world stories essential for our times, complete with maps, context, and background on the refugees' home countries. As immigration has catapulted into the current discourse, this poignant collection emphasizes the USA's rich tradition of welcoming people from all over the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Anthologies

264 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2021

About the author

Originally from Redwing, Minnesota, Victorya Rouse began her teaching career as Peace Corps Volunteer in Eswatini, Africa. Currently, she teaches English to newly arrived high school aged refugees and immigrants in Spokane, Washington. She is also an adjunct professor for Whitworth University, teaching methods classes for teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Reviews

[Isabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Victorya Rouse’s, “Finding Refuge,” she has compiled a collection of personal essays by current or former students who have all found themselves in Spokane, Washington, due to crises and unrest in their countries. Spokane has been a popular destination for refugee resettlement in the United States and this is often how the students in Rouse’s book have arrived.

“Finding Refuge” reminded me greatly of “The Newcomers” by Helen Thorpe, which came out in 2017. These two books aren’t exactly the same, but what they do have in common with each other is that they are centered around the trauma of young, school-aged refugees. In “Finding Refuge” by Victorya Rouse, the stories of the young refugees are told by the students themselves. This is something I preferred over Helen Thorpe’s “Newcomers” where the consent of the stories was blurred.

Many of the stories in Rouse’s book, however, felt very lacking due to the student still fresh from their trauma. Some of them even felt exploitative to be reading, as well. There were some that were obviously written with the want and desire to be put out in the world, as to share the message that refugees are no different than anyone else, and that “just because they 'came from another country does not make [them] bad."

This then made me wonder how necessary these specific personal essays were to the book. It feels that the author selected essays that would have been better fit for a magazine or blog. The students’ stories are important and need to be told, there is no doubt about that, but even as a middle-grade book, it is lacking the substance to do these students justice in sharing their stories. I say this because they all followed the same formula, as though it was an essay prompt - and it probably was. It’s not right that we read these stories through the prompts of people who haven’t lived it. We should be reading/hearing it from their own prompts, in their own time.

[Vickie Van Vliet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Victorya Rouse has collected short stories from refugees in Seattle. The book is split up into chapters. Each chapter features a new country of origin. At the start of each chapter, a snapshot of the country is given. This includes things like population, religions, and it lists why people have left. It is done in a very effective way that gets the information across. The biggest issue that I have with this book is the lack of transcription or story editing. I have done extensive transcription work and have been trained to keep the story true to the author while editing the narrative to be grammatically correct. I felt as though the editing could have been better in this book.

[Jen Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like a lot of things about Finding Refuge. First, I think the format of the text is very effective. The author does a great job of giving the reader a brief overview of historical context as well as some geopolitical context.. The maps are helpful as well. Next, the author has a strong collection of stories from students who represent the gamut of refugees; some refugee's stories were hard-hitting while others had fewer hardships. Some families were able to wait in relatively comfortable, safe conditions, while others spent half their young lives in dangerous refugee camps. It's important to have that kind of variety to showcase the wide scope of experiences.

My main critique of the text is that each student appears to answer a specific prompt rather than an open-ended probing question. The student writers might say things like, "I want Americans to know..." or "I'm so grateful to be in America..." Many of the stories start off in the same way; i.e. where the student was born or where they grew up. Their stories are all so different and unique that it seems like a disservice that each should start the same. It seems to sterilize each writer's personality. One exception was Slava. As a reader, I got a greater sense of his personality and incredulity when he asked questions like, "How is this a better life? How can we trade that for this?" Additionally, he made some interesting cultural observations like, "Everywhere I went, people were always smiling, for no reason. I thought, Are you drunk?" I wished more of the stories had that level of candor. At times, the students teased details but ultimately withheld them; of course, they can establish their own boundaries, but it does create some distance between the writer and the reader. It's somewhat unfortunate in this case because a text like this would do a fantastic job of teaching empathy to younger readers.

As an educator, I see this being an excellent text to teach in a middle school English class with a cross-curricular focus in Social Studies. Students may also have their own stories and connections to contribute to the conversation, and it could be a big learning experience for both their classmates and teachers.

[D'Linda Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a rule of thumb I do not rate memoirs as they are an extension of someone’s life that they graciously shared with the world. And who are we to cast opinions about their experience.

This book is a collection of essays written by rufugees that have found a new home here in the States. I’ll first say my heart truly goes out to those who have to had to make this very hard discussion to leave their home country for whatever reason, the essays mostly start when everyone is child age, under 10. Could you imagine experiencing, death and violence at 5, or 6, or 8? Absolutely not. There were times when I could only read one story at a time because I was crying. I will never understand what it means to leave your home with only a backpack, travel across an ocean to a new home where no one looks like you, or speaks like you, or the food is so foreign, but this is your new home.

Biggest shock for me was I did not know that people live in refugee camps for 10+ years! And when they get to the States, a few of these stories didn’t start school until middle and high school but to even start school and graduate with no knowledge in the English language is just so incredibly courageous and the persistence they all have is just so heart warming! If I could give everyone of these people who write an essay I would!

The book is split into regional sections, and within each section or chapter you have a few essays of people from those countries. There’s also a page or 2 of the countries history and why people decide to leave , I thought those were really interesting, I’m not the biggest history person so it was just enough factual info for me without being too overwhelmed or taking away from the essays. I think the structure of the book was well done. And at the end there are additional resources and just some reflective questions in how to be more accepting of people in this circumstance.

4⭐️ for overall structure and information included within the book. I think you get a lot of information without it being too overwhelming and it’s a good eye opening reading experience.

[Danielle Grise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victorya Rouse includes many poignant stories here, detailing the lives of people whose circumstances made it dangerous and nearly impossible to remain in their homes. They tell of refugee camps and fleeing to a hoped-for safe place. They tell of family separation and learning a new culture and language. They tell of discrimination and intolerance. They tell of kindness and acceptance. The stories, though from all over the world, are similar; the United States is a place where people can start anew and build a life for themselves and their families. I also appreciated that Rouse provided snippets of the history of the countries included in this book. It helped to see how the political and religious factions led to such turmoil for people. And to remind us that there have been refugees from all over the world for many, many years.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I teach high school. Teens have a particularly hard time understanding or empathizing with others. Especially in the last few years when compassion has been hard to find.

Finding Refuge is broken up into sections of refugee experiences based on the home country of the individual writers. Each section begins with a brief description of the country. The individual stories that follow describe the teenage refugee’s experiences on their way to safety.

I think this would be a wonderful addition to a school library. But I can see using this in the classroom as well. Broken up, it could be used to accompany lessons in a social studies class.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing for the opportunity to give an honest review of this book.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a collection of essays of high school students who have recently immigrated to the United States. I like the format of the book where she starts with maps and basic information about the countries the writers are from and they tell their stories of life in their country, the process of coming to the United States and some of their experiences once they arrived. I also appreciate the epilogues so that one learns something about their lives afterward. The variety of experiences is enlightening.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice collection of stories from refuges from all over the world. Though all due to different circumstances ended up in the U.S., they have stories in common of the struggles to come to the United States to live better lives. It's a good way to try to understand how other people live, the privilege that many do not know they and to have empathy for people who may not be living the same situations as us.

[Hilary Redman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very well thought out. I have never been more fully aware of the refugee journey until now. I thought I knew enough considering I work with a refugee population near the Great Lakes however this book and its tales made me more aware of how difficult it can be for a family to relocate and resettle on top of the time spent in refugee camps.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding Refuge is beautifully written by the survivors themselves. It has stayed with me long after I put the book down. I find myself making connections to the stories when I read other accounts through other resources, such as the book, Long Walk to Water.

[Ryan Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the bite-sized information about each countries unrest, I learned so much I did not know through this book. The stories while harrowing at times were also very beautiful. I appreciated the words and vulnerability of the storytellers.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

please to goodness that people will read this and grow more open hearts

[Lora Covrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives a very brief history of each country followed by the emigration story of the person from that region. It’s enlightening to hear from their perspectives.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book on refugees, mostly world relief from all over the world, written bt Whitworth professor, lots of history about each country, religions, And reasons for immigrating