Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Share and discuss book ideas for
Task 5: Read a book about immigration or refugees.

I have a few in mind for this one, but I hope to see other suggestions too. I'm considering When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, Angry Queer Somali Boy: A Complicated Memoir by Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali, We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, and The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil.

I would also recommend Ru by Kim Thúy, The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui, American Street by Ibi Zoboi, and The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia.

I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosín would work here and for the first of completed duology prompt.

I won in a giveaway: My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route by Sally Hayden

I will likely use
The Wangs vs. the World

but I'm sure I'll read other books that will qualify

Planning on When Stars Are Scattered and The Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship, and Hope in an American Classroom

I'm considering Exit West, Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis, What Strange Paradise or Children of the Land.

I'm reading The Monstrous Misses Mai

Denise wrote: "I will likely use
The Wangs vs. the World

but I'm sure I'll read other books that will qualify"

This is my book for this task.

Looking forward to "Camp Zero" by Melissa Min Sterling

I made a Listopia for this:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

I'm trying to make a list for every Book Riot Prompt

K wrote: "I made a Listopia for this:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

I'm trying to make a list for every Book Riot Prompt"

Thank you K!

I read The Stationery Shop.

Been meaning to read Americanah

I have a bunch of possible options, trying to choose something that I have access to a copy of right now, so probably will go with The Joy Luck Club or either Transcendent Kingdom or Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

I also want to recommend No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani, translated by Omid Tofighian. Boochani is a Kurdish journalist who was illegally detained in an offshore detention centre by the Australian government, and wrote this book by text messages on a smuggled-in phone. It is very upsetting and thoughtful, and a vital insight into the horrific treatment of refugees seeking asylum in Australia.

I try to mix in a children's picture book or two into my challenge each year, so I read A Different Pond.

Elizabeth wrote: "I have a few in mind for this one, but I hope to see other suggestions too. I'm considering When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, Angry Queer Somali ..."

I have so many things that I want to read for this task, and I hope to still get to a number of the ones I mentioned here this year. I ended up reading The Arrival by Shaun Tan for this one though. I had been considering it for the wordless comic task, but it works wonderfully for this one too.

Just finished an arc of The Book of Records--beautiful novel that explores liminal spaces, the identities and stories on the edges of countries. The novel brings Hannah Arendt and other voices to life in ways that will make readers think about marginalization, immigration, social/political refugees, and much more.

Another one I was thinking about revisiting for this challenge prompt was the Lost Children Archive, although that one wrecked me so much the first time, I'm not sure I have the emotional bandwidth for a reread.

I've narrowed my choices down to two, both middle grade novels. The Lost Year is about the pogroms in Ukraine. The Partition Project is about the Pakistan/India split.

I've changed my mind, and now I've decided to go with American Dirt instead of Americanah. I already own it, so it'll be easier to make myself pick it up!

I read Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. A lovely cleverly written memoir, by an author who at the age of 8 had to escape from Iran with his mother and sister (mother had a fatwa against her). It is written in the voice of a 10 year old telling stories to his teacher and classmates about his family's history. YA but a great read for an adult IF you read it in the mindset of a rather precocious 10 year old boy.

A few I've read in the past that I recommend: The Thirty Names of Night and The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, Infinite Country by Patricia Engel, Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, and Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang.

I read History Comics: Ellis Island: Immigration and the American Dream by Felipe Galindo Feggo. 2/19/25

I read Growing up African in Australia. It's a collection of short memoirs written by people from the African diaspora who immigrated to Australia at various ages (children, teens, young adults, adults). It was brilliant and I really enjoyed reading it.

Came here to recommend The Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine. I loved it, it's a great take on the Syrian migrants arriving to Greece.

yeh we should i think we should read haunting adeline by H.D carlton

I read Martyr! , whose main character came to America from Iran as a child. I really enjoyed the book, and I think that reading both this and The Complete Persepolis have provided a lot of perspective together that I just don't see otherwise in American media.

I read Daughter of Fire Sofia Robleda . The immigrants are the Spanish, and the refugees are the Mayans who are displaced from their own homes by the Spanish conquerors and forced to give up their culture and religion, often practicing in hiding

I wasn't sure about this one at first, but I think that The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks fulfills this prompt. I find the premise of the book intriguing, in any case.