The term ‘refugee literature’ refers to texts which are written by, for, or about refugees. The aim of this diploma thesis is to investigate the importance of refugee literature for today’s EFL classroom. At the heart of this thesis lies the analysis of three novels which are concerned with refugees. Even if only two of them, Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah and Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, are officially labelled as YA fiction, I consider all three books appropriate pieces of literature for the EFL classroom. By re-defining the notion of YA literature, I aspire to justify why Emma Jane Kirby’s The Optician of Lampedusa should also be included in L2 teaching. Moreover, the primary literature will be scrutinized with regard to five characteristics determining YAL: length, language, characters & narration, content & relevant themes, as well as age of target readership. This will demonstrate in how far the selected books can be considered YA novels. This thesis also takes a didactic approach towards refugee literature. Teachers will be provided with guidelines on how to select adequate refugee literature for their learners. In total, eight guidelines have been formulated: genre-specific essentials, representation of people, natural & convincing writing, illustrations, stereotypes & prejudices, respectful understanding of identity, age and promotion of diversity. All of the three primary novels have fulfilled these guidelines and can thus be considered valuable examples of refugee literature for the EFL reading curriculum. Furthermore, numerous useful activities for the reading process are suggested.