Throughout history, millions of people around the world have lived the universal refugee experience by fleeing their countries and finding new homes in societies abroad. A refugee is someone who is forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or danger. Refugees must seek asylum in foreign countries, losing almost everything they are familiar with. In Arthur Brice's "Children of War" and Thanhha Lai's "Inside Out & Back Again," discover the experiences of children forced to flee their homes due to war and disaster. Thanhha Lai's novel, “Inside Out & Back Again” centers on 10-year-old Ha and her family. As the Vietnam War comes dangerously close to their home in Saigon, they are forced to flee the country, upending their lives. After spending months in a crowded refugee camp, Ha's mother decides that her family should try to find a new home in America. Ha and his family must navigate the universal refugee experience, seeing their lives turned upside down, before slowly being pushed back again when they manage to find a new home. When refugees are forced to leave their homes, they lose almost everything: their family, their country, their culture and even their identity. Their lives will only begin to turn back when they create a new home for themselves, and their peers and remaining family help them find hope again. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Refugees' lives are turned upside down when they lose everything they once had, including their culture and their country. After fleeing their home countries, they must face the fact that they may never be able to return home. In the rising action of the novel Inside Out & Back Again, Ha and her family are fleeing Vietnam on a large boat filled with other refugees. The captain of the boat begins to speak in front of the passengers of the boat, communicating news that manages to turn everyone's lives even further upside down. To the refugees' dismay, he becomes the bearer of bad news, declaring, "It's over, Saigon is no more." At this point, the refugees have not only lost their home, but their home has been destroyed. North Vietnamese forces took control of South Vietnam, bringing the entire country into the hands of a communist government. The lives of Ha and his family were now destroyed. They had lost their country and would not be able to return in the near future, and perhaps not even for the rest of their lives. In many cases, refugees may flee their countries because of an evil government or violent groups that have managed to invade the country. In Children of War, when asked how his father was killed, Emir talks about how his house was occupied by the Serbian army. He says: “They entered our homes and said they had established a new government.” (Brice, 26 years old) They were forced to flee because power had been seized in their home country and a new government had been created. Even before fleeing their country, they had already lost their home when it was invaded. Refugees must mourn the loss of their countries, having lost their homes to threatening and dangerous conflicts. They must flee their countries and find new homes, all while dealing with the loss of their identity and their family members. Refugees' lives are turned upside down when they lose their families. The loss of a parent or sibling is devastating, especially at a time when refugees need their families most. They have to find a new home in completely different countries,even if they are already grieving the loss of a loved one. In Inside Out & Back Again, Ha lost her father in the same conflict she was forced to flee. Nine years before Ha, her brothers and her mother fled South Vietnam, their father, who worked in the Navy, had been captured by the North. For years she was unable to fully make peace with this loss and held out hope that her father was still alive, not knowing that he had died. Ha explains his father's capture and disappearance, writing: “My father left home for a Navy mission on this day, nine years ago, when I was almost a year old. He was captured on Route 1, an hour south of the city, on a moped. That's all we know. (Lai, 10 years old) He lost his father before he could meet him. He had been killed during the Vietnam War, the war that forced Ha and his remaining family to flee the country nine years later. Many young refugees lose their parents to wars in their home countries. When young refugees lose their families, it can destroy them, especially since they are still children. Many will lose what little hope they have left and will be unable to see how their lives could improve. In Children of War, when asked how the war changed her life, Amela described the impact her father's death had on her. She said: “But after hearing about my father's death, everything seemed so pointless. I couldn't see any future for myself. (Brice, 26 years old) Due to the war in Bosnia, Amela lost her father in a concentration camp created by the Serbian army. All hopes Amelia had of seeing her father again had been destroyed. His death had such a huge impact on her that she too lost all hope for the future. He couldn't see how he could continue without his father. When refugees lose family members, they may give up everything, as their entire world has been shattered. This can make it much harder for them to get back to their lives again, now that they have to mourn their losses. The refugees' lives finally begin to turn around again as they make a new home for themselves and their peers and remaining family help them. to find hope again. Refugees will finally be able to hope for a better and brighter future when they learn to live in their new homes and manage to adapt to the new culture. At the end of Inside Out & Back Again, a full year has passed since the novel began. Now it's Tet again and Ha is praying for what he wants to happen in this new year. He has trouble with his desires, before deciding: “I think and think, then I close my eyes again. This year I hope to really learn to kick on the fly, not to kick someone but to fly." (Lai, 259) After having her entire life turned upside down, Ha has now found a new home in Alabama. With the help of her few friends at school, her teachers and her family, Ha was finally able to find hope. Now he looks to the future and can see that everything is behind him. Now he can start over in his new home, without fear. In Children of War, Amela explains how her life was turned upside down when she became a refugee and found asylum in America. After starting school again and leaving life in Bosnia behind, she can finally see a future for herself in America. When asked about her life in America, she says, “America is giving us a chance at a better future than we could have had in Bosnia.” (Brice, 26 years old) Amela lost all hope for her future when her father died in a concentration camp, but now that she has started a new life in America, she has found hope again. His family and starting school.