Sections 1–3: Three Homes in Danger第 1–3 節：危機中的三個家

Refugee follows three children in three different times and places. Josef — Berlin, Germany, 1938: Twelve-year-old Josef Landau wakes in the night as Nazi storm troopers break into his family's small flat. They ransack the rooms, laugh at Josef, and arrest his father, Aaron, a Jewish lawyer who has been banned from working. The attack is part of Kristallnacht, a night of violence against Jewish homes, shops, and synagogues across Germany. For six months Josef's mother searches for news. Then a telegram arrives: Papa has been released from the Dachau concentration camp, but only if the family leaves Germany within fourteen days. Isabel — near Havana, Cuba, 1994: Eleven-year-old Isabel Fernandez secretly feeds a stray kitten, even though food is so scarce that some hungry people have started eating cats. Since the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuba has had almost no food, fuel, or medicine, and families live on tiny rations. Isabel knows that her neighbor and best friend, Iván, and his father are secretly building a boat to escape to the United States, which is against the law. Her own father was once jailed for trying to leave. Isabel plays her trumpet for tourists on the Malecón, Havana's seaside road, always trying to feel clave, the hidden beat in Cuban music that she has never been able to hear. Instead, she hears glass breaking. Mahmoud — Aleppo, Syria, 2015: Twelve-year-old Mahmoud Bishara survives the civil war by staying invisible: hood up, head down, never noticed. His ten-year-old brother, Waleed, no longer shows any feelings at all. The war began after protests in 2011, and Aleppo, once a bright, modern city, is now full of rubble. Mahmoud remembers his friend Khalid; after they were both bullied, they drifted apart to stay safe, and Khalid was later killed in an airstrike. When Mahmoud sees two boys stealing bread from another boy, he wants to help, but he turns around and walks away.《Refugee》描寫三個生活在不同時代、不同地方的孩子。 約瑟夫（德國柏林，1938）：十二歲的約瑟夫·藍道半夜驚醒，納粹衝鋒隊員闖進他家的小公寓。他們把房間翻得亂七八糟，嘲笑約瑟夫，並逮捕他的爸爸亞倫。亞倫是猶太裔律師，已經被禁止執業。這次攻擊是「水晶之夜」的一部分，那一夜德國各地的猶太人住家、商店和會堂都遭到暴力破壞。接下來六個月，約瑟夫的媽媽四處打聽消息。後來來了一封電報：爸爸已經從達豪集中營獲釋，條件是全家必須在十四天內離開德國。 伊莎貝爾（古巴哈瓦那近郊，1994）：十一歲的伊莎貝爾·費南德茲偷偷餵一隻流浪小貓，雖然食物稀少到有些飢餓的人已經開始吃貓。自從蘇聯解體，古巴幾乎沒有食物、燃料和藥品，家家戶戶只能靠少得可憐的配給過活。伊莎貝爾知道，她的鄰居兼好朋友伊凡和他爸爸正偷偷造一艘船，打算逃到美國，而這是違法的。她自己的爸爸以前就曾因為想離開古巴而坐牢。伊莎貝爾在哈瓦那的濱海大道為觀光客吹小號，一直努力想感受「克拉維」，也就是古巴音樂中那個隱藏的節奏，但她從來沒聽出來過。這一次，她聽到的卻是玻璃碎裂的聲音。 馬哈茂德（敘利亞阿勒坡，2015）：十二歲的馬哈茂德·比夏拉靠著讓自己「隱形」在內戰中生存：拉上帽子、低著頭、絕不引人注意。他十歲的弟弟瓦利德已經完全不表露任何情緒。戰爭從 2011 年的抗議開始，阿勒坡曾經是明亮又現代的城市，如今到處是瓦礫。馬哈茂德想起他的朋友哈立德：兩人都被霸凌之後，為了自保而漸行漸遠，後來哈立德在一次空襲中喪生。當馬哈茂德看到兩個男孩搶另一個男孩的麵包時，他很想幫忙，最後卻轉身走開了。

Gratz uses three third-person narrators, each in a separate section headed by a name, place, and year. The sections are short and usually end on a cliffhanger, which pushes readers on. Because each story stops at an exciting moment, readers must wait two sections to find out what happens, which builds suspense.葛拉茲用三條第三人稱敘事線，每一節開頭標明人物、地點和年份。各節篇幅短，通常停在懸念上，推著讀者往下讀。因為每個故事都停在緊張的時刻，讀者得等兩節之後才知道結果，懸疑感因此累積。