Boy, Everywhere by A.M. Dassu

Title: Boy, Everywhere

Author: A.M. Dassu

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Old Barn Books

Published:  6^th January 2021

Format: Paperback

Pages: 288

Price: $18.99

Synopsis: Sami and his family are forced to flee their comfortable life in Damascus, via a smuggler’s den in Turkey, to an uncertain life beyond. A story of survival, of family, of bravery … and of how thin the line is between “them” and “us”.

Boy, Everywhere chronicles the harrowing journey taken by Sami and his family. From privilege to poverty, across countries and continents, from a comfortable life in Damascus, via a smuggler’s den in Turkey, to a prison in Manchester. Once safe in the U.K., Sami is bullied and decides he’d do just about anything to return to Damascus – including, possibly, becoming a stowaway. His is a story of survival, of family, of bravery… and of how thin the line is between “them” and “us”. How far would you go to find your way back home?

AWARDS for Boy, Everywhere:
Carnegie Medal Nominated 2022 Winner Little Rebels Book Award for Radical Fiction 2021 Crystal Kite Award 2021 Calderdale Book of the Year, 2021 The Redhill Academy Trust Book Awards, 2022 York Book Award, 2022

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Sami and his family are living a good life in Syria – even though there is a war going on, they’ve been safe. Until recently. When a bomb goes off at the local shopping centre and injuries his mother and sister Sara, the family is forced to flee Damascus and go on a treacherous journey from a smuggler’s den in Turkey to find refuge in the UK. Yet during this journey, Sami faces many uncertainties and loses so much, going from a life of privilege to one of poverty, and coming to understand that up until now, his family has been lucky, especially when he meets Aadam, another refugee whose unsure how his luck will play out.

Then, once in the UK, where they’re supposed to be safe, Sami and his family are taken to a refugee prison to have their case assessed – and then once in Manchester, Sami and his family are bullied and discriminated against – even by those who are meant to be family, and meant to be helping them through the first stages of their refugee application. As Sami’s frustration grows, he longs to return to Damascus – even if it means stowing away!

Through A.M. Dassu begins to unravel the complexities of the refugee experience – and the idea that anyone can be a refugee, because war and the things that happened in Syria during the time this book is set did not discriminate between things like class, religion, the language you spoke or anything else. So many lives were torn apart, and A.M. Dassu has managed to create a story of nuance, understanding and empathy for middle grade readers, and older readers who want to understand more about refugees and what happens. What drives people to take such treacherous journeys, and in a way, she hints at why they can’t leave Syria directly, showing that the way refugees make their way across the world is not always so straightforward. It’s messy, dangerous, and can be fraught with uncertainties – and finding safety can be complicated.

Whilst she does not go into the specificities of why people didn’t stay in certain areas, it is possible that these countries may not have been safe for them, or like Sami and his family, they had someone in a place like the U.K. to help.  I think this book serves as a reminder that the refugee experience, like any experience, is not a monolith or singular experience that people can apply to all refugees. It is important that people have nuance and understanding, like Miss Patel and David, and that for every Hassan out there, for every person who is discriminatory, there are just as many Aadams and Alis who will help you and support you – who will see you for who you are, and not what other people’s assumptions say.

The poignancy in this book comes from the hope that everything will work out for Sami and his family, because they’re not what everyone says refugees are – and in her author’s note, A.M. Dassu talks about the war that would have forced Sami and his family to flee, and the media-created assumptions that people had about refugees heading to Europe – and she discovered through her research that people like Sami and his family would never have left Syria had it not been for the war – and a civil war anywhere could do the same to anyone. It is a nuance that can be missed, that everyone could be adversely affected by something out of their control and have their lives turned upside down, just like Sami’s.

It is books like this that can teaches readers empathy and understanding, and to see the world through the eyes of another. And at the same time, shows that what we assume of others is often not true, that their lives can be just like ours in many ways – going to school, enjoying sports and games, having their beliefs – it’s all what makes us human, and I felt that at its heart, this book was about humanity, family, and finding a home – even if that is far from where your home once was. And most of all, about acceptance and understanding. This is a powerful book for readers aged ten and over, and can give insight into a fraught issue that can have misunderstandings and misinformation.