Illegal - Graphic Novel/ Modern Historical Fiction

Personal Observations:

I find that students don't often enjoy historical fiction because they don't have a connection with World history. I think that this book is a great example of how you can hook a reader into a new genre and into understanding the world around them and how historical fiction books work.

Even though Eoin Colfer is one of my favorite authors (The Legend of Spuds Murphy and the Artemis Fowl series)  I think this graphic novel was written with the perfect dose of reality for middle grade readers. Could there have been more of the horrors which people experience when fleeing their native countries? Of course, but it wasn't necessary. If a reader picks up this book and wants to learn more, there is PLENTY out there for them to explore. 

This book is a gateway to learning about:

- the world around us
- graphic novels with a purpose
- visual history
- modern historical fiction
...how graphic novels can be used as a teaching tool.

5 stars!!!!!!!!!!

Goodreads' Summary:

Ebo: alone.

His sister left months ago. Now his brother has disappeared too, and Ebo knows it can only be to make the hazardous journey to Europe.

Ebo's epic journey takes him across the Sahara Desert to the dangerous streets of Tripoli, and finally out to the merciless sea. But with every step he holds on to his hope for a new life, and a reunion with his sister.

If you liked this book and want another fiction book on the topic of refugees, read:

Summary:

Three different kids.

One mission in common: ESCAPE.

Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world…

Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America…

Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe…

All three young people will go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers–from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But for each of them, there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, surprising connections will tie their stories together in the end.

And also:

The Arrival is a migrant story told as a series of wordless images that might seem to come from a long forgotten time. A man leaves his wife and child in an impoverished town, seeking better prospects in an unknown country on the other side of a vast ocean. He eventually finds himself in a bewildering city of foreign customs, peculiar animals, curious floating objects and indecipherable languages. With nothing more than a suitcase and a handful of currency, the immigrant must find a place to live, food to eat and some kind of gainful employment. He is helped along the way by sympathetic strangers, each carrying their own unspoken history: stories of struggle and survival in a world of incomprehensible violence, upheaval and hope.

https://vimeo.com/74292820