Through the Fire: Original Poems of the Universal Refugee Experience

The student poets featured in this book embarked on a literary analysis of the "universal refugee experience" two years ago in 7th grade. This experience serves to draw connections and commonalities among all the refugees of the world, and highlight reasons why people flee their country and the challenges they face finding a new home. Their journey began by delving into the novel A Long Walk to Water by author Linda Sue Park which juxtaposed the true story of Salva Dut (a Sudanese "Lost Boy" who flees Sudan during its long, brutal civil war only to return years later as founder of the Water for South Sudan program) with the fictional story of Nya, a young village girl who directly benefits from Salva's return. Their exploration continued this year in 8th grade with their analysis of the novel Inside Out & Back Again by author Thanhha Lai which exposed them to the genre of poetry as a literary device. These poems brought us into the life of Ha, a young girl whose family flees their country during the Vietnam War and relocates in the United States as refugees. They also analyzed a myriad of informational texts that served to further deepen their understanding of the universal refugee experience. This is the culmination of their two-year study: paired fictional student-created original poems.