The Boy At the Back of the Class: Onjali Rauf Paperback – 12 July 2018

The Boy At The Back Of The Class by Onjali Q Rauf is a marvellous debut novel. It is a book that I just could not put down. It is suitable for ages ten years and over. In fact, it is a perfect book for anyone as it highlights the plight of refugees.The book is written in the first person through the eyes of a nine year old living in London. Her school is a cosmopolitan one where children of all nations welcome the boy at the back of the class.The only blot on the school landscape is that of the school bullies. We see them through the eyes of a child. We totally understand her thoughts and find her feelings easy to empathise with.This is a tale of friendship that will go the extra mile in order to help improve a life.Onjali Q Rauf writes through the eyes of a child, explaining her fears and her questions. There is humor in her words and sometimes well known phrases are heard and misquoted wrongly. “We didn’t say anything after that because sometimes you can tell grown-ups won’t listen to you anymore. Usually they say… ‘I’ve said my peas.’ “All the characters were well drawn and believable. They were easy to empathise with. As an adult reader, I ‘travelled’ through the book in a dual aspect – as a nine year old, and as an adult looking in.This is a powerful book that all children (and adults) should read in order to help them to understand there are those who have travelled roads that we know nothing about.I will leave you with my favourite quote:“The entire world is full of hearts searching for a place to call home. But refugees … look for peace too.”

The boy at the back of the class by Onjali Rauf is an adventurous, heartwarming and emotional story. I loved reading this book because it is excellently well written which takes you on an emotional journey and constantly hoping for a positive ending. The book teaches you the value of friendships, and the importance of kindness. It also makes you reflect on appreciating your own family and helps you understand the sad realities of the refugee crisis in Syria.The protagonists are a small group of nine year old friends who try to befriend a new boy called Ahmet who they discover is a refugee from Syria and has been separated from his family while travelling to England to escape the war. Alexa, Tom, Josie and Michael have lot of empathy for Ahmet when they find out about his heart breaking experiences and make him feel welcome while fighting off bullies and ignorance .When they discover Ahmet's lost his family somewhere in Europe they embark on a plan to reunite him with his family.The strengths of this book are that it really motivates the reader to think about issues that affect many children, such as bullying and accepting people for who they are. The characters in the story encourage the reader to be more kinder to people and have more empathy, especially to those who feel vulnerable and isolated .The book teaches you that kindness and friendship can really improve someone's life in many ways.The main theme of the book is highlighting the refugee crisis and the traumas refugees experience in a sensitive way. The author tackles people's attitudes towards refugees through the characters that befriend Ahmet. Even though the refugee crisis is frequently in the news, I often could not fully understand the impact of war on the lives of refugees, and the difficulties they face adapting in a new country until I read this book.The book takes you on an journey which teaches you important life lessons; to accept people for who they are , the importance of kindness and friendships and the impact it has on people .The character's in the book formed a wonderful friendship went to extreme lengths to make him feel welcome and happy in the school. I recommend this book as it keeps you intrigued to keep on reading, and constantly hoping for a positive ending for all the characters. I recommend this book to all ages to young people and adults as refugee crisis is constantly in the news and helps young people to understand the experiences of refugees.Sara - Year 6

I am a Year 5 teacher and have just finished reading this book with my class. They have absolutely loved this book, I struggled to hold back tears close to the end and the whole class said they felt the same. A wonderful tale of friendship and a super story to challenge stereotypes relating to refugees - we had many insightful discussionsn and the children's maturity, compassion and understanding amazed me. They loved it so much they have written reviews for me to share:This book is amazing! My class loved it. I rate this book 5 out of 5, if I could I would rate it more. This book is about a refugee boy that did not know any English and a group of friends try to help him. By Dragos age 9.This book is about friendship friendship, learning about refugees and what they have to go through. I liked this book because it tells you about refugees, so you know what they have to go through and understand refugees lives and what happens to them. By Alfie ag 9.This book is about a boy that sits at the back of the class. I loved this because it is interesting and it makes me want to read it more. It would be good for age 9 because the characters are age 9. I think this book is good for children from another country so they know they there's someone for them. I also helped me to know about refugees. By Emily age 9.