This summer I’m reading a bunch of young adult and middle grade books that involve immigrants and refugees as part of my doctorate program. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be able to read these books as part of my independent study class, but it’s also going to be really integral for my dissertation.

The good news for you all is that this should mean lots of Monday Book Reviews coming up!

Title: How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child

Author: Sandra Uwiringiyimana with Abigail Pesta

Genre: Memoir

Age group: Young adult

Synopsis: In this memoir, Sandra Uwiringiyimana tells the true story of how she grew up as a war refugee. As the member of a minority tribe in her home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sandra and her family often had to flee from those looking to harass or destroy her family. At the age of ten, she is forced to enter a refugee camp in the neighboring country of Burundi. One night, some radicals enter the camp with guns, machetes, and torches. They sing Christian songs that Sandra recognizes from her church and chant that God has delivered this minority tribe to them. What follows is nothing less than a massacre, one that not all of Sandra’s family members survive. Following the attack, her family flees to Rwanda, where they once again face prejudice and discrimination. Eventually, her family applies for asylum in the United States. However, even after it is granted and her family immigrates, they still encounter difficulties and racism.

This is an important story that needs to be read by both teens and adults. Often we have stereotyped images of what refugees are like. We hear only bits and pieces of particular stories from certain countries. Sandra’s story is heartbreaking but also uplifting as we follow her efforts to speak up on behalf of other war refugees. Despite how she entered the world stage speaking on major platforms (including speaking to the UN), her story (and other refugees like her) is still widely unknown. Given the current climate in the U.S. regarding immigrants and refugees, I think this is an important read that can help us really humanize the situation and empathize with those people who are fleeing horrendous conditions in their own countries and are looking to us for shelter.