The boy at the back of the class by Onjali Q. Raúf.

This is an emotional rollercoaster of a story, about the 9-year-old protagonist, ‘me’, and how she befriended a ‘refugee kid’ who had recently joined the class. This leads to adventures like no other and a story line that needed recognition.

It handles topics like racism, migrants, refugees, grief and more. For a middle-grade, I think this was done well. We learn about the ‘refugee crisis’ in the Uk from the prospective of a child and how personal views often fall into a ‘for’ or ‘against refugees’ category.

This is the authors debut, and I hope to read more from her in the future. I loved this book, it was a short read that kept me hooked, from the beginning until the end. I Absolutely recommend reading this book, for kids and adults alike.

  • Rating: 5 stars
  • Setting: London, England
  • Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
  • Publication date: 2018
  • Pages: 297
  • Illustrated
  • Price: £6.99
  • ISBN: 978-1-5101-0501-0