Onjali Q. Rauf has revolutionized children’s literature by fearlessly tackling complex social issues through accessible, emotionally resonant storytelling that respects young readers’ intelligence and capacity for empathy. Her groundbreaking novel “The Boy at the Back of the Class” addresses the refugee crisis through a child’s perspective, demonstrating her remarkable ability to explore heavy topics like displacement, prejudice, and belonging while maintaining hope and humanity throughout the narrative.
What sets Rauf apart is her commitment to centering marginalized voices and experiences in children’s fiction, creating stories that both educate and inspire young readers to become more compassionate global citizens. Her approach combines authentic representation with engaging plots, proving that books addressing serious social issues can be just as captivating and enjoyable as any adventure story while opening crucial conversations about justice, kindness, and understanding differences.
If Rauf’s powerful blend of social consciousness, diverse representation, and compelling storytelling has moved you, these authors share her dedication to creating meaningful children’s literature. Each writer brings important perspectives to young readers while crafting stories that entertain, educate, and empower the next generation to build a more inclusive and understanding world.
For more recommendations, you might also enjoy exploring best adventure books, best David Sedaris books or authors like Bill Bryson.
Table of Contents
Open Table of Contents
Must-Read Authors Like Onjali Rauf
1. Eoin Colfer, 1965 -
Eoin Colfer via Wikipedia, Public Domain
Eoin Colfer is best known for his Artemis Fowl series about a boy criminal mastermind who goes on a quest to find the fairy world, but he has other books in his name as well, some of which are similar to Onjali Rauf. Illegal, a 2017 graphic novel he wrote in collaboration with Andrew Donkin, tops that list. This story tells of a boy’s journey across Africa to Europe, and the illustrations make the story real in the minds of young readers.
This Irish author attended Dublin University, where he earned a degree in education. Colfer traveled extensively in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Italy, and these locations became the basis for Benny and Omar, his first book, published in 1998. Artemis Fowl came to be in 2001, and the first book has sold over 25 million copies in 40 languages. The series has eight books in total and several companion books.
“My name is Ebo. I’m twelve years old. We’ve only been at sea for three hours, but I think he might be right.”
Eoin Colfer, Illegal
2. Steve Tasane
The child of a refugee, Steve Tasane, is the author of Child. He also worked as a performance poet and was the writer-in-residence at the Dickens Bicentennial Celebration. Child I, which he published in 2018, pulls from Tasane’s father’s experiences and tells the story of a group of undocumented children who have letters instead of names.
They want their stories to be told, but they have no papers to write on or records to back them up. The children live in a refugee camp, and though the work is fiction, it opens the eyes of modern children to the day-to-day challenges of life as a refugee. Tasane also wrote Blood Donors and Nobody Saw No One, published in 2013 and 2015. You might be interested in exploring children’s books, such as these best Dr. Seuss books.
“I will use the quill and the berry juice and the leaves to make Life Books for us all.”
Steve Tasane, Child I
3. Zana Fraillon, 1981 -
Zana Fraillon is an Australian author who writes children’s books and young adult novels. Born in Melbourne, Fraillon spent some of her childhood in San Francisco and a year teaching in China, so she has traveled quite a bit. Her 2016 book, The Bone Sparrow, spoke on the plight of the people of Rohingya. It won the 2017 Amnesty CLIP Honor for shedding light on human rights issues. It won several other awards, including the ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children and the Reading Young Adult Book Prize 2017. The book has since become a stage play, which premiered in the UK in 2022.
“To those who refuse to be blinded by the glare, or deafened by the hush, who are brave enough to question, and curious enough to explore. To those who will not forget. You will make a difference. And to the rest of us, so that we may learn how.”
Zana Fraillon, The Bone Sparrow
4. Linda Sue Park, 1960 -
Linda Sue Park via Wikipedia, Public Domain
Korean-American author Linda Sue Park is responsible for the Newbery Medal-winning novel A Single Shard. Published in 2001, the book tells of Tree-ear, an orphan living under a bridge in 12th-century Korea who decides to learn the art of pottery. The carefully written novel shows the resilience of the young boy along with the challenges of life in Korea in ancient times.
Most of Park’s works are historical fiction focusing on Korean culture. Another famous work is When My Name Was Keoko, her 2002 novel set in Korea just after World War II, when Japan took over the country. It won the School Library Journal’s Best Book of the Year accolade. Park started her writing career early when she published a poem in Trailblazer magazine at nine, and she continues to add new works as an adult.
“If a man is keeping an idea to himself, and that idea is taken by stealth or trickery-I say it is stealing. But once a man has revealed his idea to others, it is no longer his alone. It belongs to the world.”
Linda Sue Park, A Single Shard
5. Katherine Rundell, 1987 -
Katherine Rundell is an English author from Kent who wrote Rooftoppers, a 2013 novel that won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Story. A fellow of All Souls College and a graduate of the University of Oxford, Rundell spent ten years in Zimbabwe when she was a child, then lived in Belgium for a while. These experiences sparked her first book, The Girl Savage, published in 2011. It told the story of a Zimbabwe girl sent to England for school.
Rooftoppers was her second book, and it tells of a young girl who is orphaned and lives on the rooftops of Paris to avoid being sent to an orphanage. If you like reading children’s books, you might also enjoy our list of the best books by Roald Dahl.
“Perhaps, she thought, that’s what love does. It’s not there to make you feel special. It’s to make you brave. It was like a ration pack in the desert, she thought, like a box of matches in a dark wood. Love and courage, thought Sophie—two words for the same thing.”
Katherine Rundell, Rooftoppers
6. Catherine Bruton
Catherine Bruton has many awards to her name, but her book* No Ballet Shoes in Syria* has the most, including the Books Are My Bag Readers’ Award in 2020, The Middle East Book Award, and the Sheffield Book Award. Bruton studied English at Oxford before becoming a teacher in Africa. With little entertainment in Africa, she turned to writing stories about the children she was teaching and the new culture that surrounded her. After that, she returned to England and started teaching in her home country while publishing books.
Many of Bruton’s books, including Another Twist in the Tale and Following Frankenstein, explore what could have happened to secondary characters from classic tales*. We Can Be Heroes*, nominated for the Carnegie Medal, was her first book, published in 2011. It tells a funny but tense story about the children of those who died in the 9/11 attacks. This book was made into a successful feature film.
“Mrs Massoud was always crying – for her son who had been taken by government troops in Damascus, and for her daughter, who had been killed by the bombs shortly after. She told Aya that a mother’s fountain of tears flows forever.”
Catherine Bruton, No Ballet Shoes in Syria
7. Nizrana Farook
Nizrana Farook was born in Sri Lanka. In her books, she often writes about the people and places of her childhood. The Girl Who Stole an Elephant, her 2020 debut novel, tells the story of an outspoken, rebellious girl who steals from the king and her noble family to give to the poor. After landing in jail, she makes a daring escape and the most significant theft of her life. One of her more recent novels, published in 2023, The Boy Who Met a Whale, takes readers on an adventure on the ocean.
“The boy held on to the side for balance and stumbled into the cabin. The captain was lying in his bunk, fast asleep. The room had been ransacked.”
Nizrana Farook, The Boy Who Met a Whale
8. Kiran Milwood Hargrave, 1990 -
Kiran Millwood Hargrove is a Cambridge University and Oxford University graduate who has become a successful author. Hargrove started writing in 2009, publishing her first novel, The Girl of Ink and Stars, in 2016. It was purchased in a six-figure deal that included a sequel. It won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year in 2017. The book remains on the bestseller list in the UK. Its sequel, The Island at the End of Everything, came out in 2017. In 2019, Hargrave released her first young adult novel, The Deathless Girls, and in 2020 entered the adult novel world with The Mercies, which became an instant bestseller.
“India is a place where colour is doubly bright. Pinks that scald your eyes, blues you could drown in.”
Kiran Milwood Hargrave, The Girl of Ink and Stars
9. Lisa Thompson, 1973 -
Lisa Thompson via Wikipedia, Public Domain
A native of England, Lisa Thompson left school at 16. Eventually, the young woman found work in the insurance field, then with the BBC. This led to working as a freelance radio broadcast assistant with another company. In 2017, she published The Goldfish Boy, her first book. The book tells the story of Matthew, a boy shut inside his home due to struggling with OCD. The book was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. One year later, she published The Light Jar and became a skilled writer. Thompson’s books tell stories of children dealing with real-life problems in a poignant and heartwarming way.
“I think we could be good friends if you just saw me for the person I am, not the person you think I am.”
Lisa Thompson, The Goldfish Boy
10. Ross MacKenzie, 1981 -
The author of The Nowhere Emporium, Ross MacKenzie, hails from Scotland. The winner of the Scottish Children’s Book Award for his debut novel Zac and the Dream Pirates, which he published in 2010. MacKenzie quickly followed it with Zac and the Dream Stealers. In 2016, he published The Nowhere Emporium, and the book won the Scottish Children’s Book Award, Blue Peter Best Story Award, and the North East Book Award. It tells of an orphan named Daniel Holmes who stumbles upon the Nowhere Emporium, a shop with mysterious rooms and passageways that take him through time and space.
“The shop from nowhere arrived with the dawn on a crisp November morning. Word travelled quickly around the village, and by midday, the place was abuzz with rumor and hearsay.”
Ross MacKenzie, The Nowhere Emporium
