The Boy at the Back of the Class
(43 reviews with an average rating of 4 out of 5)
Publisher: Orion
This is the story about how one ordinary nine-year-old child and three classmates are full of empathy for Ahmet, a boy that comes to their school as a refugee from Syria (he is the boy at the back of the class).
Through their sensitivity, curiosity, ingenuity, bravery and innocent niceness, they make a massive impact on Ahmet’s life, friends, class, school, community and wider world. There’s a lovely lack of stereotyping on gender and backstory for the narrator, which adds to the message of not judging people before you know them.
An inspiring and sweet tale that will help children think about what it is to be a good person whatever your circumstances (the narrator is from a poor background with a single parent mum who struggles to make ends meet), and challenge prejudice and push for fairness, whenever possible.
This is a beautiful, open-hearted debut from Onjali Q Raúf that should help children be the best they can be and realise the power of kindness.
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What you thought...
Average rating:
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Damien, 31 March 2024
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I read this book and it's awesome! The end was so happy and lovely. Alexa is such a thoughtful character with a big heart! 5/5
Books4Life20, 23 September 2023
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it is a great book if you want to learn about different cultures
Bethany, 06 September 2023
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Amazing book
Mary, 06 September 2023
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Really Good. 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽
John Wick, 06 September 2023
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Amazing faviroute Author
Freya, 21 April 2023
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Very good book highly recommended
Sebastian, 21 February 2023
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bad book
read it, 16 October 2022
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good book
reader, 05 May 2022
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This Book is Amazing. It is mixed with friendship, adventure and action. It also teaches us life lessons and refugees. I would recommend this book to whoever likes books about friendship, adventure and action.
Ardil, 10 March 2022
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Amazing Book!
Ardil, 08 March 2022
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its simply amazing its an important life lesson
Daira, 29 October 2021
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this book is bad
arran, 18 October 2021
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AMAZING BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!
anonoymous, 27 August 2021
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this book is fantastic I will definitely share it with my friends
anonymous, 23 August 2021
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really good
greengrass, 17 August 2021
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This was really an amazing book..Its really inspiring and interesting and it really got me into the plot
tokato, 18 June 2021
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My favourite book so far probably.
Anonymous, 28 March 2021
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What I thought about the book was that it was all about kindness and support the reason why i thought this was because that a group of children were not bulling they wanted to be good people and to make this harmless boy part of there friendship group . This is a perfect book for young smart children.
Lily, 07 March 2021
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I think this book is really inspiring for children. I didn't even have dinner that day because I really wanted to finish the book. I loved it so much that I was going to quote it for world book day! Thank you! :)
Jemimah, 04 March 2021
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this book is terrible
blake, 02 March 2021
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My Y6 children loved this book and cant wait to read the new book 'The Day we Met the Queen.'
Miss B O'Rourke, 27 January 2021
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This is the most amazing book I've read! I cant wait to read The day we Met the Queen!
Anonymous, 27 January 2021
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I found it very boring and dragged on
I found it very boring and dragged on, 26 November 2020
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In the boy at the back of the class... A nine year old boy named Ahmet is a refugee boy and he makes a new friends. The un named child is the most courageous person of them all.
Maryam, 08 October 2020
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Mind-Blowing, Extremely, AMAZING BOOK! At first I was not interested but it seemed quite fishy so I read the first page..... it simply just got me hooked I was so interested into Ahmed’s life..
Krishna, 09 September 2020
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this is a great book! i love it and is probably my favourite book ever!
ruby, 23 June 2020
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Incredible book it is my favourite
Anonymous, 03 June 2020
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amazing!!!
Anon, 27 May 2020
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Amazing book! I read it with my class.
Lauren, 21 April 2020
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Very fun book to read and really recommended.
Anon, 02 April 2020
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It is a beautiful book and it shows me to be to be more kind
Billijo, 05 March 2020
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The book is amazing it was great because the tried to help people that are a refugees and they try to tell the queen to help find Ahmet the refugee and find his famliy
Adam, 05 March 2020
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i think this book was amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
katie, 23 January 2020
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AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anonymous, 04 November 2019
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Best childrens book i have read really inspiring to follow your dreams and treat people the same as everyone else. Really good book highly recommend. My son and I loved it.
Best MOM Ever, 03 November 2019
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Such a sweet tale
Darcy, 16 October 2019
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Very good book. highly recommend. ~bobby has left the building~
bobby, 05 October 2019
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Read this on holiday and LOVED it. I couldn't wait to share it with my Y5 class, so made it our class reading book. They couldn't wait for the end of each day to find out what was going to happen. It's brilliantly entertaining, charming and deals with some challenging subjects very well indeed!
Miss C, 23 August 2019
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I found it very boring and dragged on
louis, 04 June 2019
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Just finished this beautiful book with my 8 year old son, it is funny, extremely moving and thought provoking. We read it over several nights and I shed happy and sad tears! A wonderful read for children and adults alike
Fiona, 09 May 2019
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It's so innocently beautiful. Many of it's writing can teach kids about being kind to people. The language is also easy to be understood and makes the story easy to be imagined, especially for the non english reader. Very recommended for children and adults.
Qylla, 31 March 2019
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100% recommend. It's beautiful. Just finished this book with my 10 year old son and we both loved it, it is now "our book". It's funny, thought-provoking, kind and it presents many lessons about today's world and how kindness, friendship and avoiding stereotypes is so important. Highly recommended and look forward to reading again with my youngest. Will be a great film soon!
Bernie, 22 March 2019
👍 I loved this book!