REFUGEE BOY

Zephaniah, a London-based performance poet, sends a strong political message in his realistic account of a young refugee's struggles. With both of his parents' homelands at war, 14-year-old Alem is persecuted because of the family's mixed nationality; his Ethiopian father and Eritrean mother decide that their son will be safest abroad. As the novel opens, Alem's father brings him to London "on holiday" and then abandons him, leaving only a letter to explain his reasoning. While Alem's parents fight for the unification of Ethiopia and Eritrea thousands of miles away, Alem must mount a battle for political asylum. After being moved from an institution to a more welcoming foster home, Alem musters an army of friends and compassionate social workers who help him combat a cold and impersonal system. Rather than delving deeply into his protagonist's emotions, the author adopts a relatively objective stance. Readers see Alem's reactions from the outside, not as an internal process, as the government initially refuses to grant him asylum and later, when both of his parents are killed (his mother in Africa, his father in London). While audience members may feel distanced from the young hero, they will be outraged by the injustice he confronts and moved by the tragedies he endures. Ages 10-up. (July)