Gr 6-9-A dust jacket that resembles an airmail envelope complete with stamp cancellation will lure readers to this somewhat disappointing tale. Alem Kelo is caught in the current political disputes raging between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He and his father flee to London where Alem is left alone to seek asylum with British authorities while his father returns to Africa, where he discovers that his wife is missing. The child is caught in the web of the judicial system as his foster care and sanctuary are determined. While the story has all the elements of a gripping tale, it often reads like a first, rough draft. A prelude to the book, titled "Ethiopia," finds soldiers barging into the Kelos' house. Shooting and shouting result, and the family is ordered to leave the country. An almost duplicate scene labeled "Eritrea" follows. In an effort to show that neither country embraces the union of this Ethiopian man and Eritrean woman and its progeny, the question immediately arises, are the soldiers Ethiopian or Eritrean? Throughout the author merely tells, rarely shows. Wording is awkward and often repetitive. The result is the ponderous text of a story about war and refugees that needs to be told; unfortunately, this effort falls short.-Daniel L. Darigan, West Chester University, PA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
"Look at me, look at all the things that I am capable of, and think of all the things you could call me-a student, a lover of literature, a budding architect, a friend, a symbol of hope even, but what am I called? A refugee." This is the fate of the refugee. Not only does he flee desperate circumstances, he is ever a stranger in a strange land, ever an outsider with a single identity: refugee. Alem Kelo's father is Ethiopian, his mother Eritrean, and war is being waged between the two countries. Since his parents' lives are in danger, Alem is brought to England. Alem thinks he is on a brief pleasure trip, but when his father leaves him there without saying goodbye, he is overnight a refugee in a land of refugees: Asians, Africans, Romanians, Kosovars, and Chileans. After a brief stint in a hotel and an awful time in a children's home, Alem is lucky to be placed in a foster home with the Fitzgeralds. There he thrives, goes to school, and gradually becomes active in the refugee movement. Though he faces difficult times in England too, the Fitzgeralds provide a safe place. Sometimes the prose is awkward and overwritten, but the story is compelling. And, somehow, even with so much tragedy in a young boy's life, it doesn't get bogged down. Alem is a survivor. He says, "Circumstances beyond my control brought me here, and all that I can do now is pick myself up and try my best to make something out of what is left of my life. If good can come from bad, I'll make it." Alem is a refugee who transcends his identity as such; he becomes a hero, even a role model and readers will care about him. (Fiction. 10+)
