I read three of the 2019 Summer Reading books, let’s take a look at them. I know summer is long gone, but we still can read these books any time of the year.

Let’s start with Refugee. Refugee is one book that is basically three. It follows three plotlines, all in different places and years. One is a Jewish boy escaping from Nazi Germany, the other is a Cuban girl escaping from Cuba after a protest starts and the police threaten her father, and the last one is about a Syrian boy escaping from modern day Syria.

This book provides a very cynical take on the immigration system. I really like how the book switches POV. This is because each story is equally exciting, each refugee had challenges, and none of them got away unscathed with makes each story is both exciting and unique. Another thing I like about this book is that it provides a realistic take on the world, and how hard it is to immigrate. Like I said earlier, none of the refugee families got away unscathed. It’s books like this that make you question how much we take our freedom for granted. I won’t really get into spoiler territory, because I would highly recommend this book to anyone. Another interesting thing about Refugee is that events are based off of real historical events, here are some websites to learn more about those events.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/voyage-of-the-st-louis

https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/syrian-refugee-crisis-facts

https://www.univision.com/univision-news/opinion/seven-things-you-need-to-know-about-wet-foot-dry-foot

Next we have, Genius: The Game. This book stars three main characters and it switches POV between them. The three main characters all have their own talents. Rex is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, he is one of the best programmers in the world. Painted Wolf is Chinese and she exposes corrupt businessmen, she is good at influencing others. Tunde is Nigerian engineer. An Indian man by the name of Kiran Biswas announces a competition for the best engineers and programmers in the world. Rex, Cai, and Tunde attend, but they soon realise that Kiran’s ambitions are more malicious, and they have to work together to achieve their goals.

This book is also a good pick. The POV switching is done very well, just like Refugee. I also like how each of the characters have unique motivations. Rex wants to find his lost brother, Painted Wolf wants to support her two friends and avoid her identity being found, and Tunde wants to help his Nigerian village from being attacked by a military warlord. This makes the characters stand out from each other. I like how winning the game is a smaller part of a bigger story, it makes the world of this book feel more vast and it makes the story more open for creativity. I also like how the main characters have to work together in order to achieve their goals, that is a really important message. Though, I really don’t like how the book relies on the sequel to finish the plot, which is a problem. This is because books should be able to stand alone and have a satisfying ending so that when the reader finishes it, they don’t feel like they are forced to read the sequel. Speaking of the sequel, I have not read it yet, but it looks promising. I would recommend this book to young adults.

Next, we have a book called When, this book is about a girl named Maddie who can read people’s death date. However, when a murderer runs loose and the feds blame Maddie and her friend, Stubby, Maddie has to rise up and prove her and her friend’s innocence.

If I could describe the book in one word, it would be, “exciting”. In every page, something is happening. There was never a moment in this book where I was slightly bored. The ending in this book had probably some of the best writing for action I have read. Also, I found the premise of the book to be interesting, and the author used this premise very well, this book also feels pretty realistic. (except for the fact that the main character can see death dates). The characters are likable. Though, I think Maddie could have had a better character arc, she doesn’t learn that much of a moral, and I wouldn’t say she goes though much significant change, but honestly, I can overlook this with every other pro this book has. This book is extremely good, I would recommend it to anyone who likes mystery and criminal case books.

Which one is the best out of these three? In my opinion, it is Refugee. The choice came down to When and Refugee, and I chose Refugee ultimately because the book made me think more, it had a message, which is what books should do. Refugee really makes you think about how hard it is for immigrants to even make their journey, but also how hard it is to get accepted into a new country. It makes you think how much immigrants have to give up for just a chance at freedom, and this is important for people living in first world countries to know. All three of these books are good, and you should definitely read them.

If you’re not sure if you want to read any of these books, you can see more reviews here.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33118312-refugee

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25689033-genius

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20338342-when