Each year, more than 400 minors arrive alone in Canada requesting refugee status. They arrive without their parents, accompanied by no adult at all.
Alone relates the journey of three of them: Afshin, Alain and Patricia. Their story opens a window onto the many heartbreaks, difficult sacrifices and countless hardships that punctuate their obstacle-filled path. But Alone most especially tells of the courage and resilience that these young people demonstrated before being able to finally obtain a life where threats and danger are no longer a part of their everyday existence.
Key Text Features:
author's note
captions
chapters
character drawings
comic
map
dialogue
flags
further information
illustrations
introduction
maps
writing inspiration
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3
Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7
Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
PAUL TOM was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, the son of Cambodian parents. He currently lives in Montreal where he uses his talent and sensitivity for projects that give a voice to those people we don’t hear enough about. Whether working as a film editor, director or author, he tells stories in such a way as to shed light on the intimate, precious and fragile aspects of human beings. Alone is his first book.
MÉLANIE BAILLAIRGÉ lives and works in Montreal. A multi-talented artistic and creative director, she likes to create images using bold colours and dramatic lines. Her illustrations, which have great evocative power, go straight to the heart.
ARIELLE AARONSON left her native New Jersey in 2007 to pursue a diploma in Translation Studies at Concordia University in Montreal. She holds an M.A. in Second Language Education from McGill University and has spent the past few years teaching English in the Montreal public school system and creating educational material for second language learners. She previously translated Marie-Renée Lavoie’s Autopsy of a Boring Wife and A Boring Wife Settles the Score for Arachnide.