«Jamás pensé que esto pudiese pasar, y me doy cuenta de que cualquiera puede convertirse en refugiado... Solo hace falta que tu país se desmorone. Y o te caes con él, o te marchas».

Esta es la historia real de Hakim, un joven sirio que tuvo que abandonarlo todo: su familia, sus amigos, su propio negocio, su país... Y así se convirtió en refugiado. Porque estalló la guerra, porque lo torturaron, porque supuestamente el país vecino podría ofrecerle un futuro y seguridad.

Un testimonio intenso y conmovedor sobre lo que significa ser humano en un mundo que a menudo se olvida de serlo.

A French comic book creator interviews and dramatizes the life of a Syrian refugee now living in France. Hakim Kabdi tried to keep his head down and run his plant nursery as the Syrian civil war broke out, but after his brother disappears and he himself is arrested, he begins wandering around the Middle East looking for a stable job and a safe place to live.

I appreciated the author explaining how he came to do this project, but I didn't need so many scenes set in the present day with him and Hakim trying to schedule time to talk. The flashbacks to Syria are the most interesting. The scenes of Hakim moving around looking for work get a little repetitive and dull until a romantic interest appears to perk things up again.

This is the first book in a trilogy, and I will certainly keep my eye out for the next one. ( )

graphic nonfiction (orig. published in French); one man's story of escaping the violence of war-torn Syria and looking for a safe place for his family, part 1.

Really well-done retelling, based on the author's (translated) interviews with a refugee family that eventually settled in France. I would pick up volume 2 in a heartbeat. ( )