Author: Fabio Geda
This is the true story of Enaiatollah Akbari, a boy who was forced to leave his home and family behind in Afghanistan at age ten. It follows his remarkable journey from Afghanistan to Italy with many hardships, and even life threatening challenges as he tries to find a safe place to live and belong while running from the Taliban.
I couldn’t imagine at age 10, being left alone in a new country or a new city with no family or friends, not even any food or a place to sleep. This is exactly what he is faced with in one day after fleeing his small town of Nava in Afghanistan. His mother feels the only way for Enaiatollah to be safe is to give him a new start away from the Pashtun, a group who wish to take him, and will surely end up killing him just like his father. I think she would prefer to know he has a chance at surviving, rather than surrender him to a fate with the Pashtun.
I am amazed Enaiatollah is still alive after reading this story. He moves to find a better life, a safer life but to do this he has to get trafficked from country to country in horrible conditions, with no idea if he will make it to the next place. He is forced to hang off and hide in a lorry, walk for weeks through mountains and cross the ocean in a rubber dinghy. Then after all this, there is no guarantee that once he undertakes the dangerous journey and risks his life, the police won’t just catch him and throw him back over the border to where he started. It shocks me what he can endure at such a young age. It is only when he finds a safe place, one where he belongs and can’t be sent back to the horrible places he has been, will he be able to stop.
Fabio Geda tells the story for Enaiatollah as he recounts the journey to him. He describes the sights, smells and each place with detail. I found it easy to imagine what these places might be like in my own head with never having been there.
This book would be ideal for middle to senior school students because it is a true story of a boy at the same age, and enables them to see how different his life is, compared to their own.
Review written by Clare McDonald
Support Staff
Barkly College Secondary Campus
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