Sunday, September 25, 2022

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad

 Amir is nine when he follows Quiet Uncle onto a boat filled with asylum seekers leaving the coast of Africa and headed to Greece. He is the one person left alive when the bodies wash ashore a small Greek island.  But he must still run. He is rescued by 15 yr old Vanna who hopes to guide him to a safe place.  They do not speak each others language but it does not keep them from understanding each other.  What to do with these books - stories of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers? Tragic, horrifying, inspiring stories.  What do the authors want of us? Empathy? Knowledge?  Help? A solution? All the positions on the asylum seeker issues are  here. Resentment. Compassion. Ignorance.  The writing is outstanding but the ending is a challenge.

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