Echo
Pam Muñoz Ryan
Like Refugee, Echo follows several children in different places and eras whose lives gradually connect. Its shifting storylines and wartime danger will appeal to readers who enjoyed Gratz's structure.
11 books to read next
Books Like Refugee
If you loved Refugee by Alan Gratz
Readers who love Refugee usually come for the gripping, page-turning pace and the way three children's stories build toward one another across time. Alan Gratz writes in short, clear chapters, with emotional stakes that feel immediate. The historical fiction is grounded in real displacement and danger, with hope and courage at the centre. The tone is serious but accessible, suited to readers who want history that feels personal.
Three stories across time
A Long Walk to Water
Linda Sue Park
Park alternates between two timelines so that separate lives slowly converge, much as Gratz does. Its young protagonist's perseverance through hardship mirrors the determination that drives Refugee.
Other Words for Home
Jasmine Warga
Told in verse from a Syrian girl's perspective, this novel captures the uprooting and hope of the 2015 refugee journey that anchors one of Refugee's storylines. Its immediacy is a strong match.
Refugee journeys today
Inside Out & Back Again
Thanhha Lai
This verse novel follows a girl forced to flee Vietnam with her family and start over in America. Its honest, intimate view of displacement matches the emotional core of Refugee.
The night diary
Veera Hiranandani
Written as a diary addressed to her late mother, this novel follows a girl during the 1947 Partition and her family's flight. Its gentle narration and sharp sense of danger will suit readers of Gratz's family-centred survival stories.
Front Desk
Kelly Yang
A young immigrant girl navigates hardship and injustice while holding her family together. Its sense of resilience and a determined young narrator echo the courage at the heart of Refugee.
Wartime survival stories
Between Shades of Gray
Ruta Sepetys
This story follows a Lithuanian teenager deported to Siberia under Soviet rule, showing how one family survives displacement. Readers who were moved by Refugee's portrait of families fleeing persecution will find it powerful.
Code Name Verity
Elizabeth Wein
A tense wartime story of friendship, courage and danger, told through shifting perspectives that reveal the full picture slowly. Readers who valued the careful layering of Refugee's storylines will appreciate its craft.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
John Boyne
A short, haunting novel about a child's view of Nazi-era persecution, and the bond that forms across a fence. Its emotional punch and focus on a young protagonist's innocence will resonate with Refugee's first storyline.
Go deeper with Gratz
Prisoner B-3087
Alan Gratz, Ruth Gruener, Jack Gruener
Gratz's account of a Holocaust survivor's childhood in a concentration camp is grounded in real history and told with the same urgency as Refugee. It is an ideal next step for readers who want more of his historical storytelling.
Out of the Dust
Karen Hesse
Hesse's Newbery-winning verse novel portrays hardship and resilience during the Dust Bowl. Its spare, affecting voice and themes of endurance will appeal to readers who valued Refugee's emotional honesty.
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