Nowhere Boy- Storyline and Book Review

Nowhere Boy is the story of Ahmed (a 14-year-old Syrian boy who lands in Belgium from war-torn Syria) and Max (a privileged 13-year-old American boy who also arrives in Belgium with his family).

Ahmed, who has spent all his life in Syria, loves his country. But the war forces the family to leave their homeland and find an escape route through Greece into Europe. Ahmed has already lost his mother and siblings in a bomb attack. Now, in an attempt to escape, he and his father get fake passports done and board a rubber dinghy to reach Greece through the sea route.

Tragedy strikes, and Ahmed loses his father in an accident at sea. With the help of another family, Ahmed manages to reach Belgium, but here, he has no friends or family. All he has is a little money, a phone, a watch, and a fake passport. After failing to find an escape route to England from Calais, France, through a smuggler, Ahmed wanders the streets until he finds a secret refuge in the basement of a house.

Max, the American kid, lives in that house with his parents and elder sister. They has recently moved to Belgium. He doesn’t like the new place and wants to return to Washington, D.C., where he has his old friends, school, and home.

Weeks pass by. Ahmed continues to live in the basement unnoticed and undiscovered by anyone until one day, Max finds him.

After understanding his story, Max empathises with Ahmed and wants to help him. With the help of his school friends, Max manages to get Ahmed admitted into a school. For a short while, things look normal as Ahmed attends lessons at school, plays football with his friends, and lives an everyday life.

But things are far from normal in the country. After the terrorist attacks in Paris, the situation is tense. Attacks in Belgium make it worse. The police are constantly looking for the perpetrators, and Muslims, particularly, are seen with suspicion.

Ultimately, it comes to the point that Max plans a great escape with Ahmed.

Max is inspired by the story of Albert Jonnart and Ralph Mayer and wants to help Ahmed the same way Jonnart, a Belgian lawyer who had helped Ralph, a Jewish Boy, during WW2 many decades ago, did. Saving Ahmed and helping him gives Max a purpose, and he does everything he can to achieve it.

There are many things that I liked about the book. The author, Katharine Marsh, has very effectively sensitised the reader about some of these issues:

She has beautifully portrayed the resilience of innocent people fleeing their war-hit countries and landing in foreign lands. Their struggle to find acceptance and live a dignified life is a testament to the human spirit’s strength and adaptability.
She has also addressed the current social issue of accepting refugees in a country, prompting readers to reflect on their attitudes towards Innocent children like Ahmed, who have done nothing to deserve a life full of struggles, and end up bearing a lot more than they should at such a tender age.
The fact is that bullies are a troubled lot themselves. It is the situation that makes them that way.
Goodness exists in all of us. We all want to be friendly and helpful. It is ‘ fear’ that sometimes makes us act differently.

It is a meaningful book, a definite page-turner, and, indeed, a book with a beautiful message.‘ it is one fantastic read I recommend to everyone, irrespective of age.