Alexander Vlahos presents Refugee Boy Bringing Books to Life

Everyone around you has a story, if you just stop and ask them.

And books are a brilliant way of discovering some of those stories.

Stories like Alem's,

in this book called Refugee Boy.

Alem's mother is from Eritrea, a country in Africa.

And Alem's father is from Ethiopia, the country just over the border.

When war breaks out between these two countries,

neither place is safe for Alem and his parents.

Alem is just 14.

He's in real danger.

The soldier raised his rifle and pointed it at Alem's mother.

"You are a traitor!"

He turned and pointed the rifle at Alem's father.

"And he is the enemy!"

Then he turned and pointed the rifle at Alem's forehead.

"And he is a mongrel."

With hatred and war all around them,

Alem's dad does something very brave.

He brings Alem to Britain and leaves him here

so he won't die in the fighting back at home.

Britain isn't Alem's home, so he must become a refugee here.

And that life is hard, full of shocks and new experiences.

Appearing in court in front of judges,

having his fingerprints taken, and questions, questions, all the time.

New lessons at the new school. New people, new music.

Even the diet is new.

Meat and two veg, and gravy just to keep the food wet.

But, Alem does get a new foster family.

Here, where I am, in Manor Park, in East London.

And these are the streets that Alem walks.

Taking it one day at a time

but never forgetting everything he has left behind.

Alem missed seeing animals that weren't just pets.

He missed the sounds of home,

he missed the smell of its earth.

The smell of its people, and even the smell of its cities.

But the home Alem loves is a war zone.

And, suddenly, he can't believe it.

Alem discovers his new home, Britain,

may be about to send him back there.

Alem is honest and brave.

He fights to stay alive.

He fights back.

So do his new friends here in Manor Park.

So, if you read Refugee Boy,

you can meet Alem and discover the rest of his story yourself.

I think that's why books are so fantastic.

Because they tell the stories of extraordinary people.

People I bet you see around you everyday.

And you are one of those people, too.

So, after reading someone else's story,

why not sit down and write one of your own?

A story about you.