diversity spotlight thursday

Created by Aimal, you can check out the rules here. Basically, every week you list:

1. A diverse book you have read and enjoyed
2. A diverse book that has already been released but you have not read
3. A diverse book that has not yet been released

If you check out my Diversity Spotlight Thursday tag on the right, you can see my other Diversity Spotlight Thursdays! Today I’m focusing on books that have refugees as their main characters. As with many Diversity Spotlight Thursdays, I really need to read more books about refugees – if you have any book recommendations, please comment below.

In the shadows of Sangui City, there lives a girl who doesn’t exist. After fleeing the Congo as refugees, Tina and her mother arrived in Kenya looking for the chance to build a new life and home. Her mother quickly found work as a maid for a prominent family, headed by Roland Greyhill, one of the city’s most respected business leaders. But Tina soon learns that the Greyhill fortune was made from a life of corruption and c

rime. So when her mother is found shot to death in Mr. Greyhill’s personal study, she knows exactly who’s behind it.

With revenge always on her mind, Tina spends the next four years surviving on the streets alone, working as a master thief for the Goondas, Sangui City’s local gang. It’s a job for the Goondas that finally brings Tina back to the Greyhill estate, giving her the chance for vengeance she’s been waiting for. But as soon as she steps inside the lavish home, she’s overtaken by the pain of old wounds and the pull of past friendships, setting into motion a dangerous cascade of events that could, at any moment, cost Tina her life. But finally uncovering the incredible truth about who killed her mother—and why—keeps her holding on in this fast-paced nail-biting thriller.

I received City of Saints and Thieves as an ARC on Netgalley a couple of months ago, and absolutely loved it – I’d never read a diverse thriller before, and believe me when I say that all thrillers will now need to live up to this book! You can read my review of City of Saints and Thieves here.

Before Mina, my life was like a completed jigsaw puzzle but Mina has pushed the puzzle onto the floor. I have to start all over again, figuring out where the pieces go.

When Michael meets Mina, they are at a rally for refugees – standing on opposite sides.

Mina fled Afghanistan with her mother via a refugee camp, a leaky boat and a detention centre.

Michael’s parents have founded a new political party called Aussie Values.

They want to stop the boats.
Mina wants to stop the hate.

When Mina wins a scholarship to Michael’s private school, their lives crash together blindingly.

A novel for anyone who wants to fight for love, and against injustice.

I’ve read so many things about When Michael Met Mina that I had to include it on this list! Once again, I am absolutely blown away by the topics that YA is willing to tackle, this being an extremely important one.

Upon changing his religion, a young man is denounced as an apostate and flees his country hiding in the back of a freezer lorry…After years of travelling and losing almost everything – his country, his children, his wife, his farm – an Afghan man finds unexpected warmth and comfort in a stranger’s home…A student protester is forced to leave his homeland after a government crackdown, and spends the next 25 years in limbo, trapped in the UK asylum system… Modelled on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the second volume of Refugee Tales sets out to communicate the experiences of those who, having sought asylum in the UK, find themselves indefinitely detained. Here, poets and novelists create a space in which the stories of those who have been detained can be safely heard, a space in which hospitality is the prevailing discourse and listening becomes an act of welcome.

In 2016 I bought and quickly devoured Refugee Tales, a series of true stories told to award-winning authors. You can read my review here. I am definitely going to be purchasing Refugee Tales II, and I’m hoping that it is at least half as powerful as the first book.