by Hollie Nielsen, AWC Central Scotland
This April, the Ed Team has been inspired by the Carnegie Medal shortlist and SDG Target 4.7, Global Citizenship. We recommend reading The Crossing by Manjeet Mann.* Every high school library should have this book to teach students about human rights and promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence. The book tells the parallel stories of Sammy, a 17-year-old boy trying to escape from Eritea, and Natalie, a 16-year-old girl who lives on the receiving end of refugees in Dover, England. Both are mourning the recent loss of parents and trying to find hope. The two stories are told simultaneously and are connected to each other. We see how Sammy suffers as he tries to reach the UK as a refugee, and how Natalie finds she must help refugees by swimming the Channel to raise money for a refugee charity. Both learn that one should “Never be afraid to speak up for what is right” and that even though refugees are “choiceless voiceless hopeless helpless,” we are all connected and can feel each other’s pain. As the author says, her book is about connection; it’s “about loss, but it is also about hope and wanting more than anything to belong and feel safe.” That’s what we all want and what everyone deserves.
*Manjeet Mann is also the founder of Run the World, an organization that works with women and girls from marginalized backgrounds and helps to empower them through sport and storytelling.
(Photo credit: Hollie Nielsen)
