The Boy At the Back of the Class
![The Boy At the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf, and Pippa Curnick](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/books.readingagency/images/978/15/1010/9781510105010.jpg)
As seen:
By Onjali Q. Raúf, and and, Pippa Curnick
avg rating
822 reviews
WINNER OF THE BLUE PETER BOOK AWARD (UK) 2019
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE (UK) 2019
WINNER OF THE SAKURA MEDAL (JAPAN) 2020
WINNER OF THE CHILDREN’S COWBELL AWARD (SWITZERLAND) 2021
WINNER OF THE PRIX JANUSZ KORCZAK PRIZE (FRANCE) 2022
On a perfectly ordinary school day, something extraordinary happens: a boy with pale skin, lion eyes and a tattered red rucksack walks in. Unable to speak English and seated at the back of the class, Ahmet ‘the refugee kid’ becomes the perfect target for bullies and rumours alike.
But Ahmet has also captured the attention and empathy of a fellow classmate, who will do anything to help him find his family. Even if that involves a plan – or five, and the Queen herself!
Told with heart and humour, The Boy at the Back of the Class is a child’s perspective on the refugee crisis, highlighting the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn’t always make sense.
With beautiful illustrations by Pippa Curnick
BEAUTIFUL GOLD FOIL ANNIVERSARY EDITION NOW AVAILABLE – FIND IT UNDER ‘ALL FORMATS AND EDITIONS’
TweetReviews
I like it because there is always a mysteries and it also very emotional
My teacher recommended that I use the book as it was funny
I liked how it talked about refugee rights in a children book.
it inspired me to help people who have been forced to leave their homes. I reccomend this to people who want to help refugee children in need.
Its a good book and it is diverse and also tells kids about refugees and how hard it is 5/5
It was a bit sad because he didn't have any parents
A boy called Ahmet arrives from syria ,he lost his family on the way,can his new friends help him find them? I liked ahmet the most because it was intresting hearing his story.His life is very different to mine.
Everyone will enjoy it.
In this book, the main character, Alexa, works to help her new friend Ahmet who is a refugee, to find his family and fit in to the school. I would recommend this book to people who like adventure books.
I thought it was really funny
Quick easy read. Great characters. would recommend.
It is a very good book from start to end it took quite a long time to fully Read the full book but it is still good
I enjoyed the story of Ahmet, also the fact that Ahmet is a refugee, because not many books talk about refugees, so I really enjoyed the story of how Ahmet found his parents.
I read this at school
I enjoyed reading this book on my own. I liked how the new boy was unique to everybody else in his class. Also the chapter 40 winks and how the boy did 40 winks at the boy at the back of the class. When my teacher read it to us there was an emty chair at the back of our class just like in the book. I recmend this book for 7/8/9 +
It is about someone helping a refugee child. It was good and shows that there are kind people in this world. Iwould highly recommend this book.
I love this book
My favourite character is Amhet
It is all about refugees
I would recommend this book to everybody
I really enjoyed reading this book with my mum. It had chapters and I got to understand the difficulties refugees face when they come to another country and have to go to a new school. I liked the way the story was written.
Boy at the Back of the Class was a standout favourite for my Year 4 class (and also my 11 year old son). Suitable for ages 9 and above, this powerful tale captured our hearts with its heartfelt narrative and important themes of empathy and friendship. Through the eyes of the young protagonist, Ahmet, readers embark on a journey of understanding and compassion towards refugees. The genuine portrayal of Ahmet's experiences resonated deeply with my class and son, fostering meaningful discussions about kindness and inclusion. It serves as a reminder of the impact of small acts of kindness and the strength of unity in the face of adversity.
I loved the humour used in this book as it does discuss difficult subject matter. It was a great way of increasing my classes awareness about what a refugee might have been through and develop their empathy.
It is a book about a refugee kid who joins a new school and a young boy who is in his class makes friends with him
I have read the Boy at the back of the class by Onjali Q. Raúf. I thought the book was good because it explains the struggles of refugees. Onjali Q. Raúf visited my school and told us about the reasons she wrote the book. The talk was really inspirational and so was the story of Ahmet, the character in the book. The character of Ahmet was based on the baby of Calais whose name is Raehan. The book is a Blue Peter Best Story winner and I understand why. The book has an outstanding storyline and brilliant descriptive writing.
I have Boyer the jest is a good
I really liked this book because it was really interesting when they met the queen's guards
I loved the book because there's a lot of mysteries and adventure. My favourite character was Alexa [the narrator]. Would definitely recommend it to someone else.
nice i borrowed this book from a teacher
I like Ahmet the best
The boy at the back of the class is a wonderful book! It has lots of suspension and also has great friendship.Alexa is a great friend and she is always looking out for her friends, always.She wanted to help Ahmet to reunite with his parents and she made that happen just because she was looking out for her friends.
Are you a little bit?
I like this book because when Ahmit came to the school he wasn’t treated fairly as he couldn’t communicate well. The person who sat next to him was unkind and spread rumours to make him sad, her name was Clarisa. Alexa who became Ahmits best friend, along with Josie, Tom and Michael they helped look after him and when he learnt to speak more English, he said ‘thank you friends’. They were happy to be his friend, Ahmit told Alexa that his sister died in the sea and his cat ran away. Alexa wanted to help him, she wrote a letter to the queen, asking the queen not to shut the borders and help Ahmits parents get back Ahmit.
Cool! I loved reading this book
I thought it was amazing.This book is incredible and I think everyone should read it.It tells you about a refugee's life and how we can help them.My faverite character was Alexa because she wanted to help Ahmet and try find his family.