A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • 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. Told from the point of view of
two children on the ground and at sea the story so astutely unpacks the us-versus-them
dynamics of our divided world that it deserves to be an instant classic. —The New York Times
Book Review 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.
