In a time when understanding and empathizing with the plight of refugees is vitally important, these reads offer insight and experience. From a World War II tragedy to the very recent Syrian refugee crisis, these books are important additions to your shelf.

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes

Narrated by Destiny, this heartbreaking — and timely — story of refugees escaping from war-torn Syria is masterfully told by a foreign news correspondent who experienced the crisis firsthand.

Salt to the Sea

Winter 1945. WWII. Four refugees. Four stories. Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies, war.

Dream Country

Instantly beloved by authors including Sabaa Tahir and Ibi Zoboi Dream Country explores the challenges of a Liberian refugee struggling to fit into his new life in Minneapolis while also exploring the road that led Kollie to be in America in the first place.

Audacity

A gorgeously told novel in verse written with intimacy and power, Audacity is inspired by the real-life story of Clara Lemlich, a spirited young woman who emigrated from Russia to New York at the turn of the twentieth century and fought tenaciously for equal rights.

City of Saints and Thieves

In the shadows of Sangui City, there lives a girl who doesn’t exist. After fleeing the Congo as refugees, Tina and her mother arrived in Kenya looking for the chance to build a new life and home. But then a murder sets Tina on a dangerous path of revenge and atonement.

Game Seven

Julio Ramirez Jr. lives in the shadow of his famous father. Not just because Julio Senior is a pitcher for the Miami Marlins and famous for his scorching fastball, but because he defected from Cuba, leaving Julio and his sister and mother branded as the family of a traitor.

Continue to explore with these 7 books that will broaden your cultural experience