The theme of Refugee by Alan Gratz is to always be brave. The book focuses on 3 main characters who all face problems with where they live, Josef lives in Germany in 1938. Isabel lived in Cuba in 1994. Mahmoud lived in Syria in 2015. All of these characters are brave. Josef was brave when his mother had to choose which kid to get taken to a concentration camp Josef stepped up and told the Germans to take him, but he later died. Isabel was brave when she jumped into shark infested water to get Ivan who just got bitten by a shark. Mahmoud was brave when his sister and his mother were drowning and he gave his baby sister to a stranger to save her life. They all seem to show responsibility as well Josef had to take care of his sister and some of the other kids, and Mahmoud showed responsibility when he had to give his little sister to a random stranger to save his sister and his mom because he took his sister off his mom to take the weight off his mom.