WINNER OF THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE From the widely acclaimed bestselling author of American
War-a beautifully written unrelentingly dramatic and profoundly moving novel that looks at
the global refugee crisis through the eyes of a child. More bodies have washed up on the shores
of a small island. Another overfilled ill-equipped dilapidated ship has sunk under the weight
of its too many passengers: Syrians Ethiopians Egyptians Lebanese Palestinians all of them
desperate to escape untenable lives back in their homelands. But miraculously someone has
survived the passage: nine-year-old Amir a Syrian boy who is soon rescued by Vänna. Vänna is a
teenage girl who despite being native to the island experiences her own sense of
homelessness in a place and among people she has come to disdain. And though Vänna and Amir are
complete strangers though they don't speak a common language Vänna is determined to do
whatever it takes to save the boy. In alternating chapters we learn about Amir's life and how
he came to be on the boat and we follow him and the girl as they make their way toward safety.
What Strange Paradise is the story of two children finding their way through a hostile world.
But it is also a story of empathy and indifference of hope and despair-and about the way each
of those things can blind us to reality.
