Refugee Readings

As Syrian refugees are welcomed to Peel Region, many Peel residents are reaching out to help with food and clothing donations or sponsorship. Libraries want to help, too. Your local library has books for adults and children in Arabic, plus resources in print, audio and on-line to help Arabic speakers learn English. Mississauga Library System runs free children’s programs intended for the whole family, such as Welcome to Canada story-time, for learning new words and Canadian concepts, Conversation Circles for adults, employment workshops for newcomers, settlement workers are in the libraries and will connect customers to the social services they need.

Want to learn more? Here are books in Mississauga libraries that can help deepen our understanding of life as a refugee.

City of thorns: Nine lives in the world’s largest refugee camp by Ben Rawlence

With deep compassion, Rawlence interweaves the stories of nine individuals to show what life is like in the camp and to sketch the wider political forces that keep the refugees trapped there.



From bombs to books: The remarkable stories of refugee children and their families at an exceptional Canadian school by David Starr
Starr shares the stories of his students and their parents, and tells about the teachers and others who dedicate themselves to making a difference in their lives. His students are hopeful and resilient despite the traumas they have faced.





Frontier Justice: the global refugee crisis and what to do about it by Andy Lamey.

 An examination of “temporary” refugee camps that are becoming a permanent feature of world crisis zones.






Originally published in Tough Times