The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf

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

There was an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a boy called Ahmet is sitting in it.

He's nine years old (just like me), but he's very strange. He never talks, he never smiles, and he doesn't like sweets—not even lemon drops, which are my favorite!

But then I discovered the truth: Ahmet isn't so strange. He's a refugee who escaped the war. A real war. With bombs, fire, and bad people who hurt others. And the more I learn about him, the more I want to help.