Refugee Boy

***Refugee Boy*** is a book written by Benjamin Zephaniah.

## Plot

The whole story centers around the 14-year-old Alem Kelo. He is a boy born of an Ethiopian father and an Eritrean mother at a time when the two countries were at war with each other. His father takes him to London to be safe. There he has to fight for his status as a refugee. Alem and his father had to leave Ethiopia or die, so Alem's father (Mr Kelo) decides to leave Alem in England until there is peace.

Soon after arriving in London, Officers from the council in charge of refugees told Alem that he was going to have a hearing in court. In the hearing, they took a photograph, fingerprints, and was questioned for hours.

Alem was sent to live in a care home for boys. He slept in a room with Stanley Burton. He also made a friend named Mustafa. Later, the caretakers decide to put Alem in a foster home with Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald and their daughter Ruth. At one point during his stay with the Fitzgeralds, he receives a letter from his father stating that Alem's mother was murdered.

Meanwhile, Alem had to appear in court several times to defend his application for refugee status. His father returned to England, because it had become very unsustainable in Ethiopia. He lived in a refugee center. Alem is sent to school, and is a studious boy who reads a lot. His school friends prepare a protest against the verdict of the court (which is to deport him back to Ethiopia). This made a big difference and Alem was even in the news. Immediately afterwards, though, his father is shot by an unknown person. This makes the court decide, finally, that Alem should stay in his foster home (the Fitzgerald family).

## Characters

- **Alem** was told to leave Ethiopia and Eritrea and had to go to Britain and become an asylum seeker. Alem faced a lot of problems in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
- **Mr Kelo** Alem's father.
- **Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald** are the people who took care of Alem and adopt Alem.
- **Ruth** is Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald's Daughter.
- **Sheila** is a social worker who supports Alem and other people.
- **Mariam and Pamela** they are from the refugee council: they helped Alem get a hearing to stay in England.
- **Robert** (Roberto) Alem’s friend from school, he always smokes and he tried  to get Alem to smoke. His real name is Roberto Fernandez.
- **Sweeney** is a bully from the care home; he started a fight over biscuits.
- **Stanley** was a kid at the care home he shared a room with Alem; Stanley always talked when he was asleep about his mum and his family was separated.
- **Mr Hardwick**: The hotel manager who looked after Alem when he first arrived.
- **Nicholas Morgan** is a barrister for Alem; he is trying to get him refugee status.
- **Buck** loves playing the drums and is a friend of Alem
- **Asher** is a teenager that thinks in a way that Alem likes and he is very friendly.

## Awards and other versions

_Refugee Boy_ was Benjamin Zephaniah's fifth book. It won the 2002 Portsmouth Book Award in the Longer Novel category. According to the opening to the book, the reason Zephaniah wrote the book is because he heard lots of different refugee stories and he combined the stories to create the book.

_Refugee Boy_ has been adapted into a play that was directed by Gail McIntyre and designed by Emma Williams. The casting designer is Kay Magson and the playwright is Lemn Sissay. The play premiered in Leeds at the West Yorkshire Playhouse between 9 March 2013 and 30 March 2013.

## Infobox (book)

- **name**: Refugee Boy
- **author**: Benjamin Zephaniah
- **country**: United Kingdom
- **language**: English
- **subject**: Ethiopia-Eritrea War
- **genre**: Biography