How else am I going to play Angry Birds? He was joking again. No ambulances came to help the wounded. Mahmoud Bishara, a twelve-year-old boy, tries to live an "invisible" life in Aleppo, Syria. Khalid (17) IWB does part of the story take place in 1939? Papa! Towering shadows burst into the room. Germany was his home. The boat! Papi called. Use Apple Maps, another soldier said. The street is filled with rubble, and buildings are collapsing around them. And dont ever do that again, the Hitler Youth told Josef. Wheres Papi? she asked him. No ambulances came to help the wounded. It was getting there that was the hard part. Missiles and bombs thudded nearby, close enough to shake loose parts of walls. Nono! Waleed Bishara. One group is distributing diapers. Im just trying to get my family to safety, Dad told the men. The path was crammed full of Syrians, all strolling along like they had nothing else to do and nowhere else to go. Dont take him! Ive been talking to him on WhatsApp, Dad continued, holding up his phone. They were men, mostly, many of them shirtless in the hundred-degree August heat, their white and brown and black backs glistening in the sun. Her grief becomes another way in which Mahmoud is forced to grow up early, as he becomes a caretaker for his parents and feels guilty over the burden of the decision that he made. 'No boat today. They all continue to walk for twelve hours, all the way to Austria and freedom. Were refugees! Mahmoud yelled, unable to stay silent any longer. And why not? Six months and eleven days! the Brownshirt said. Move. Youre old enough to be her grandfather. Lito just took that as a challenge. Mahmoud couldnt understand why his mother had bothered to save their backpacks until he saw that they were stuffed with clothes and diapers. Along with Josef and Isabel, she is one of the books three protagonists. No police cars or emergency crews hurried to the scene. Not so smart now, are you, pig? one of them had said. A social worker approaches Mahmouds family and asks if they are seeking asylum in Germany (Germany accepted 124,845 Syrian refugees in 2017 and the EU as a whole accepted 538,000 total refugees). Izzat so? the fisherman said. the leader of Syria in 2015. He raised his hands to his ears and said, Allahu Akbar. God is the greatest. Mahmoud sat in the middle row of desks in his classroom, where the teacher wouldnt call on him. And there were so many boats. Thats when Mahmoud had realized that together, he and Khalid were bigger targets; alone, it was easier to be invisible. Josef just turned thirteen! Ruthie told the girls. He has one brother one baby sister and a mom and dad. After the week, they return to the mall but two men threaten them and demand an exorbitant amount of money in order to stay. And why do you need gasoline so badly? To leave Cuba before my father is arrested. The fisherman wiped his lips on the back of his hand. But now the streets were full of people yelling, Down with Fidel! Sit down! to explore the ship. This incident later haunts Mahmoud, as he wishes that he had chosen not to remain invisible in order to help the boy. The two policemen had hit the surf and were running high-legged through the waves. The kitten wasnt too different from her, Isabel realized: thin, hungry, and in need of a bath. Mahmoud remembered his uncles wedding, before the war. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. All Isabel could see was the metal side of the boat in front of her face, but she heard a commotion behind her. What if they send a navy boat after us? His breath came quick and deep, and his hands clenched into fists. Isabel also deals with a fair share of trauma that expedites this maturity: two years prior, her grandmother Lita drowned during a cyclone in Havana, and on this boat trip Isabels best friend, Ivn, is killed in the water by sharks. It was a boat. It collapsed onto the sixth floor, and then into Mahmouds apartment, and on down like dominos. Screamed in sheer blind terror. Mahmouds dad kept driving. But the good people couldn't help you, either." Alan Gratz The next car was the dining car. That seemed like a good omen to him. A whistle blew. The fact that Lito informed the Jewish passengers on board the St. Louis that he was Jewish haunts him. Josef and Ruthie went over to see what they were doing. In becoming an adult, he has many responsibilities that he is forced to take. She was almost to Papis outstretched arms when she saw her fathers eyes go wide. Germany? Mahmouds mother said. Along with Josef and Mahmoud, he is one of the books three protagonists. How old is Mahmoud Bishara Josef the refugee? Isabel watched as Mami cleaned his cuts with a washcloth. Always quick to raise his hand in class, and always with the right answer. But why? Klaus had joined the Hitler Youth not because he wanted to, but because German boysand their familieswere shamed and mistreated if they didnt. Years. The MS St. Louis had left all that behind. The bright yellow Star of David armbands the Landaus wore were like magical talismans that made them disappear. Then he folded his hands over his stomach and said a brief prayer before reciting the first chapter of the Quran, the most holy book in Islam. What these three young people from different times and places have in common is that they all become refugees, forced to flee on perilous . Isabel stood for what seemed like hours, her insides churning like a waterspout. Everywhere around them, people fled into the streets, covered in gray dust and blood. So we have money! Please, Isabel begged. I know weve been talking about leaving. Mahmoud is 13 years old in 2015, and lives in Aleppo, Syria with his father Youssef, his mother Fatima, his read analysis of Mahmoud Bishara Josef 's younger sister, who is six years old when they board the St. Louis to escape Nazi Germany. (LogOut/ Mahmoud puts together that he and the other refugees are invisible only until they do something the natives dont want them to do, and he continues to question the value of staying invisible. She let him hug her, even though she still held her hands across her chest as if to ward him off. He was stocky, his shoulders wide and muscular despite the food shortages. Ohlet me get someone to help you with those bags. Mahmoud and his family then go to the railway station, where they will spend the night in Germany. Isabel hefted the boat to get a better grip and tried to pick up her pace. Isabel braced herself between two of the benches, trying to catch her breath. Isabel wished she had something else to give it, but this food was already more than she could spare. If he was caught again by the police, hed be sent back to prisonand this time they might not let him out. The family decides to trust it once again and the old man drives them to the dock. Im a man now. And when those soldiers said one of us could go free and the other would be taken to a concentration camp, Josef said, Take me.. Refugee (Alan Gratz) Read the first paragraph of Ch.22 . Everyone on the crew had treated Josef and his family with kindness and respect, despite his fathers repeated warnings that all Germans were out to get them. Mahmouds father got back in the car. (including. The Hitler Youth led Josef down the narrow corridor of the German passenger car. What happened? Isabels mother asked. Each one came up to Isabels chest. Hana Bishara. St. Louis was the name of a city in America, Josef had learned. Germany is a long way away. There wasnt another ship on the horizon as far as he could see. She and Ivn held the middle of the boat on either side, while Ivns parents and Isabels father and grandfather carried the front and back. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. The MEA air barrier market is projected to reach US$ 1,576.20 million by 2028, up from US$ 1,258.12 million in 2022. Is it enough? Isabel asked. Mahmoud watched as these two boys attacked the boy with the bread, a boy he didnt even know. It had made his little brother a robot. Please! Mahmoud cried. Hana was wailing, but Mahmoud almost couldnt hear her over the sound of the gunfire. Or run away. Mahmoud didnt have any friends. They fell on him, hitting and kicking him for being a Jew, and calling him all kinds of names. She stood on the wide promenade, where it seemed all of Havana was on display. People caught criticizing Fidel Castro were thrown into jail and never heard from again. Waleed was sitting right where he had been before the attack, on the floor in front of the TV. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. LitCharts Teacher Editions. . The bed broke into pieces. In the gallery above, Josef saw one of the crew slam a fist down on the railing and storm off. We didnt want to leave our homes! another man yelled. He and Mahmoud had known each other for years, and even though Mahmoud was Sunni and Khalid was Shia, that had never mattered to them. Could they? Isabel saw how many people were on the beach as they left the villages dirt road and carried the boat across the sand dunes. The way the content is organized. We didnt want to leave our homes! another man yelled. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. This route crosses a country border, Google Maps told them, marking the alert with a little yellow triangle. All right, Mahmouds father was saying. Chabela, play us a song on your trumpet. Isabels chest tightened. Look at this one! he said, pointing to the wet spot on Josefs nightclothes. Nothing about him actually matched the pictures on Herr Meiers presentation on how to identify a Jew. The buildings been hit! Mahmoud said. feet, he wasnt coming back. How is Isabel connected to Josef refugees? Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. Josef, Ruthie, Renata, and Evelyne had to swallow their snickers as the steward reached down with his free hand and tried and failed to open the door. We sent them back to Europe and Hitler and the Holocaust. Isabel thought he meant Luiss girlfriend, but instead he pushed some of the sacks of food and jugs of water out of the way and pointed to the bottom of the boat. Josefs parents had always taken him to synagogue with them on Shabbos, even when other parents left their children with their nannies. Down a side street just like this one, Mahmoud found Khalid getting beaten up by two older boys. Josef scrambled backward on his bed, his eyes wide. Josef listened, straining his ears in the dark. Mahmouds heart was still racing when someone put a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped. Were building a doghouse, he said, before sprinting away. Until now. Grade: A. Entertainment Weekly Harrowing, timely. People Magazine Nothing short of brilliant. Kirkus Reviews, starred review Memorable and tightly plotted. Publishers Weekly, starred review Two giant tan smokestacks stuck up from the middle of the ship, one A telegram from Papa! Dad waved their fears away. Mahmoud paid ten Syrian pounds for itabout five cents in American money. Freedom! chanted some of the rioters. At a command from their leader, they pushed forward into the crowd, arresting rioters and hitting them with wooden batons. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Only the TV wasnt there anymore. Im just doing my job.. Car horns beeped. She wasnt paying any attention anyway. She climbed up the bumper and onto the hood. Isabel had caught him at dinner. In 2015, Mahmoud Bishara and his family run from their bombed-out home in Aleppo, Syria toward the Turkish border, hoping to cross more than half a dozen countries to a new life in Germany. I want to watch American television, Ivn said. I dont have time for games, he would tell me. It all sounded so wonderful, but when it came down to it, all Isabel really wanted was a place where she and her family could be together, and happy. How would they live? If you were invisible, the bad people couldnt hurt you, that was true. Isabel hurried after her. There wont be enough men there to form a minyan! Papa said. 2011 (14) IWB are their Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims? The entire outside wall of Mahmouds apartment was gone. Then she had it. Isabel loved tagging along on trips into Havana to stand on a street corner and play her trumpet for pesos. It was hard to tell anymore. Of course, Captain Schroeder said. Bar mitzvah? No one wore their Jewish armbands on the ship, and there were no Js above any of the passenger compartments, because all the passengers were Jews. There was open revolt against Syria's ruler, Bashar al-Assad, following the Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen. Soon all of them were laughing with her. The old taxis exhaust pipe made a sound like a gunshotPOK!and everybody ducked instinctively. Advertisement. Isabels mother, almost nine months pregnant, was the only one not helping to carry the boat. The car skids to a stop, and Youssef, Fatima (with, Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey 2015, 11 days from home (1), Mahmoud tells the man that the family has nowhere to go, and that his sister, Mahmoud: Somewhere on the Mediterranean Sea 2015, 11 days from home (1), He then hears Fatima scream out, and watches as she struggles to lift a crying, for help, but the dinghy isnt slowing down. Amiel The connection between Isabel and Josef's story is that Lito was the police officer who jumped off of the U.S St. Louis to save Josef's father when he tried to commit suicide. The villagers on the beach cheered for them, and Seor Castillo revved the engine, leaving the charging policemen in their wake. Although the refugees eventually find new homes in Europe, Josef and his mother are captured by Nazis and die in a concentration camp. Thank you. He wore a suit and tie in front of a Syrian flag, doves of peace and yellow shining light surrounding him. But that trumpet was everything to you! No, not everything, Isabel thought. In the book, Refugee, who is the author? And food ration booklets were pretty worthless anywaythere wasnt enough food to go around, whether you had a booklet or not. More of them wore the brown shirts and red swastika armbands of the Sturmabteilung, Adolf Hitlers storm troopers. Josefs mother and father were there too, lying on the floor at the feet of the Brownshirts. Shed told her parents what shed done, but not Lito. Banned from movie theaters in Germany because she was a Jew, Ruthie had seen her first cartoon on board during movie night and loved iteven if it was followed by a newsreel with Hitler yelling about Jews. This blog is an opportunity for me to explore topics through books! Youll just be our little secret, Isabel whispered. They yelled and chanted. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Hey, I know something funny we can do, he told them. Forever. Isabel covered her ears and stepped away. There was a riot on the Malecn, Lito said. Shes a baby. Yet at the same time, even though these different societies have all sunken into despair as a whole, the people within those societies still try to find a sense of hope in order to make a better future for themselves. In Refugee, Alan Gratz has . A sign that they would eventually get to America. In the year 1938, Josef Landauis a twelve-year-old Jewish child living in Berlin, Germany. To get you to Miami? A wife! She ran toward Mahmoud and embraced him, Waleed, and Hana. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs -Graham S. The timeline below shows where the character Hana Bishara appears in. Overjoyed, Mahmouds father agrees and the man makes arrangements for them. Mami was very pregnantshe was due in a weeks timeso Isabel knelt down to find the iodine. A year after that, Khalid had died in an airstrike anyway. Maybe we shouldnt talk about drowning, Papi said, clutching to the side of the boat as they chopped into a wave. Freedom! I think its time we met the other person on board with us, Isabels grandfather said. When he was finished, Mahmoud sat back up on his knees and ended his prayers by turning his head right, and then left, recognizing the angels who recorded his good and bad deeds. They were all alive! You shouldnt be leaving Syria, said one of the soldiers. Flying highest above them all, as if to remind everyone who was in charge, was the red-and-white Nazi flag with the black swastika in the middle. Who are the characters in the book refugee? What was his first name? Waleed! Mahmoud is beaten up by the local kids for being Syrian, he's unable to gain a place in a school, and his father can't see a way for his son to have a future. No, thought Josef. Along with Isabel and Mahmoud, he is one of the books three protagonists. A synagogue, on board the ship? Papa said. Mahmoud felt like he was in trouble. It was Isabels favorite place in the whole city. Ill be right behind you. As she blew, her fingers tapped out the notes she knew by heart. All the cows and pigs and sheep had been slaughtered and eaten. I know, dear. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Isabel Fernandez is a Spanish actress. Smart. She saw her papi just as he reared back and threw a bottle that smashed into the line of police along the seawall. The MS St. Louis. Just then, Mahmouds father receives a text about a boat arriving. The woman lurched out of the bathroom, looking even more green and desperate, and wobbled away. He left the compartment quietly and walked along the corridor past the other Jewish families in their compartments. Throughout history, there have been several instances of forced expulsions or individuals leaving for their lives or a better life. The boys pissed himself! The Nazis laughed, and Josefs face burned hot with shame. Ever since the Nazis had taken over six years ago, Jews were fleeing Germany. Mahmouds mother broke down in tears, and his father let the life jackets he carried drop to the ground.