Description
Book SynopsisAn eye for an eye. It's very simple. You choose your homeland like a hyena picking and choosing where he steals his next meal from. Scavenger. Yes you grovel to the feet of Mengistu and when his people spit at you and kick you from the bowl you scuttle across the border. Scavenger.As a violent civil war rages back home in Ethiopia, teenager Alem and his father are in a bed and breakfast in Berkshire. It''s his best holiday ever. The next morning his father is gone and has left a note explaining that he and his mother want to protect Alem from the war. This strange grey country of England is now his home. On his own, and in the hands of the social services and the Refugee Council, Alem lives from letter to letter, waiting to hear something from his father. Then he meets car-obsessed Mustapha, the lovely ''out-of-your-league'' Ruth and dangerous Sweeney three unexpected allies who spur him on in his fight to be seen as more than just the Refugee Boy. Lemn Sissay''s remarkable sta
Trade ReviewFine and humane ... Sissay weaves in poetry, laughter [and] moments of awe * The Times *
The playful, obstinate and courageously humorous tone of Zephaniah's writing shines through ... Hilarious and later heartbreaking. * Guardian *
The content of the play speaks directly to contemporary issues around immigration and asylum, the plight of refugees fleeing warfare, the traumatic legal process of applying for asylum, the contribution of refugees to life in Britain, and the treatment of children in the judicial/asylum process ... Lynette Goddard is the leading UK scholar on Black British theatre and performance. She has published widely in this field and is expertly placed to write the introduction for
Refugee Boy. * Chris Megson, Reader in Drama, Royal Holloway, University of London *
The text is likely to be a welcome addition to Edexcel’s set text list * Jenny Stevens, author and series editor *
Table of ContentsCHRONOLOGY CONTEXT & THEMES Cultural and Theatrical Contexts Themes Dramatic Devices Performance History Trends in Scholarly and Popular Debate ADDITIONAL READING REFUGEE BOY NOTES
