Books about moving home, migration and refugees
Packing up a home, moving to a new city or country, or arriving as a refugee. These stories help children who are moving, and help their new classmates understand what it is like to start again somewhere unfamiliar.
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The Grand Plan to Fix Everything
Ages 10–12Indian author
Dini's family moves from Maryland to India for a year. She's devastated — until she discovers her Bollywood idol lives nearby. A warm, funny story about belonging and unexpected happiness.
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American as Paneer Pie
Ages 8–12Indian author
Lekha, the only Indian American kid in her small town, hides who she is — until a new girl arrives who's proud of her roots, and Lekha finds her own voice.
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The Girl at the Front of the Class
by Onjali Q Raúf
Ages 4–7
A boy discovers his new classmate has fled her home. Celebrates being welcoming and kind toward newcomers.
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The Name Jar
by Yangsook Choi
Ages 5–8
Unhei moves from Korea to America and worries her name is too hard to say. Her classmates create a jar of name suggestions — but she already has a perfect name. Warm and funny.
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Front Desk
by Kelly Yang
Ages 10–12
Ten-year-old Mia Tang manages a motel front desk while her Chinese immigrant parents work and she secretly helps hide undocumented guests. Inspiring, funny, and deeply felt.
Heads-up: Racism & discrimination, Violence
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Esperanza Rising
Ages 10–12
Thirteen-year-old Esperanza leaves her privileged life in Mexico for the California farmworker camps during the Great Depression. A powerful, beautiful novel about loss, hope, and dignity.
Heads-up: Death & grief, Violence
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Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
Ages 10–12
A verse novel told through a year of haiku, following ten-year-old Hà as her family flees Vietnam as refugees and arrives in Alabama. Raw and luminous. Newbery Honor.
Heads-up: War & battle violence, Death & grief, Racism & discrimination
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Esperanza (Norma / Scholastic edition)
Ages 10–12
Esperanza Ortega's privileged Mexican childhood is destroyed overnight — she must reinvent herself as a farmworker in Depression-era California. Widely taught across Latin America.
Heads-up: Death & grief, Violence
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Saffron Ice Cream
by Rashin Kheiriyeh
Ages 4–7📱 eBook only in India
A young girl newly arrived in America misses the flavours and colours of Iran — until she discovers a connection between her new home and old one at a fairground by the sea. Warm and bittersweet.
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Dreamers
by Yuyi Morales
Ages 4–8
An autobiographical picture book about a mother and baby who immigrate from Mexico to the US and discover the transformative power of the public library. Pura Belpré Award winner.
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Islandborn
by Junot Díaz
Ages 5–8
A girl who left her Caribbean island as a baby asks her family and neighbors what it was like, piecing together a vivid, magical portrait of the home she can't remember.
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Letters from Rifka
by Karen Hesse
Ages 9–12
Twelve-year-old Rifka writes letters to her cousin as her Jewish family flees Russia in 1919, facing typhus, separation and the long journey to America. Based on a true family story.
Heads-up: Racism & discrimination, Serious illness
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Refugee
by Alan Gratz
Ages 10–14
Three refugee children — fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938, Castro's Cuba in 1994, and present-day Syria — take dangerous journeys that turn out to be connected across time. Gripping and urgent.
Heads-up: War & battle violence, Holocaust & genocide, Violence, Death & grief
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The Girl Who Played With Colour
by Samira Ahmed (illus. Humayra Kabir)
Ages 5–9✈️ Import only (pricey)
When young Rana moves to London from a small village in Bangladesh, she has no way to talk to those around her except through her colouring pencils. The true story of how artist Rana Begum found her voice through drawing. From the Deshis Create series.
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My Name Is Samim
by Fidan Meikle
Ages 10–14✈️ Import only (pricey)
Thirteen-year-old Samim, a gifted chess player from Afghanistan, must tell the story of his perilous journey to the UK to be allowed to stay, while starting school and making new friends.
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The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli
by Karina Yan Glaser
Ages 9–13
In 731 Chang'An, Han Yu sells steamed buns and is rumoured to summon tigers. In 1931 New York Chinatown, Luli dreams on her family's restaurant roof. When hard times strike, both children venture out, and their stories meet.
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Every Peach Is a Story
by David Mas Masumoto & Nikiko Masumoto (illus. Lauren Tamaki)
Ages 4–8✈️ Import only (pricey)
On her Japanese American family's peach farm, Midori asks if the peaches are ripe. Her grandfather says a ripe peach tastes like a story, and shares the family history behind every fruit.
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Noah's New Home
by Zeshan Akhter (illus. Nabila Adani)
Ages 4–8
Noah's family arrive in a new country as refugees. He misses his Baba, Jida and old home, and when fireworks bring back hard memories, his family and new community help him feel safe.
