As the sole caretaker for her helpless mother in their insular island community in England, angry 14-year-old Alix feels abandoned. In school, Alix learns about people who seek asylum in Great Britain, but it barely penetrates her self-absorption. This changes, however, when she witnesses the cruelty of her classmates to Samir, a newcomer to the island and obviously foreign. When Alix and Samir drag a bloodied man out of the sea, realizing that he is an illegal refugee, they hide him in a small hut and try to secretly nurse him back to health. Although the story is firmly from Alix's point of view, the author introduces issues of global importance. How does a nation balance compassion for innocent refugees against the fear of allowing terrorists easy entry? Through Alix's eyes, readers get a lesson in the reasons for the surprising Brexit vote, as well as the inflammatory issues surrounding immigration in the U.S. For other viewpoints, try Jamila Gavin's See No Evil (2009) or Maria E. Andreu's The Secret Side of Empty (2014).

A British teen comes face to face with anti-immigrant xenophobia. It's 2007. Alexandra "Alix" Miller is nearly 15 and admittedly "Number One Nerd in Year 10" when she diverts town bully Terrence Bellows from harassing Samir, an Iraqi refugee new to her school. But Terrence isn't alone: many people on Hayling Island say and do Islamophobic things, from Alix's classmates and her boss to her best friend; even Alix herself thinks of Samir and his brother, Naazim, as "foreign," worries they might be "terrorists," and jokes that Samir's a "suicide bomber." Alix's opinions-and Samir's affection-shift as they rescue Mohammed, an undocumented Iraqi immigrant escaping torture and seeking asylum, from drowning and hypothermia, then strive to keep him safe. Unfortunately, in her efforts to bring understanding to Britain's immigrant crisis and the country's role in the Iraq War, Halahmy (whose husband is Iraqi) indulges in other stereotypes, such as the broken English of Samir's Chinese neighbor. Even more unfortunate in a book specifically about cultural awakening, only people of color are described explicitly; all other characters, including narrator Alix, are assumed to be white, an assumption that undercuts the book's effectiveness and limits its reach. While Alix eventually works to address her cultural cluelessness, her proprietary actions with Mohammed have a whiff of the white savior about them. This all-too-timely book means well, but it may not be the age-of-Brexit corrective it clearly wishes to be. (Historical fiction. 12-16)

Gr 6-9 When teenager Alix and her new friend, Samir, see a man tossed out of a speeding boat into the churning waters off the coast of their small English island, they leap into the strong current to pull out the battered man. When they realize he's an Iraqi refugee seeking asylum, Alix is hesitant to help him, but Samirwho himself was once a refugee fleeing Iraqbegs Alix to help harbor the stranger. Over the course of the novel, Alix confronts her own perceptions and prejudices, as well as those of her friends, family, and neighbors. Her development from a self-involved child to a broad-thinking and selfless young adult is gradual and realistic, with Alix making plenty of mistakesand actually learning from themalong the way. The writing is simple and straightforward, and though it won't challenge strong readers, this novel will appeal to younger teens as well as to reluctant readers. VERDICT An engaging, fast-paced story that pushes teens to consider all sides of the immigration issue, this is a great choice for middle school libraries or for struggling readers. Leighanne Law, Scriber Lake High School, WA