No Safe Place
Written by Deborah Ellis
Published by Groundwood Books
Orphaned and plagued with the grief of losing everyone he loves, 15-year-old Abdul has made a long, fraught journey from his war-torn home in Baghdad, only to end up in The Jungle a squalid, makeshift migrant community in Calais. Desperate to escape, he takes a spot in a small, overloaded England-bound boat that’s full of other illegal migrants and a secret stash of heroin. A sudden skirmish leaves the boat stalled in the middle of the Channel, the pilot dead, and four young people remaining Abdul; Rosalia, a Romani girl who has escaped from the white slave trade; Cheslav, gone AWOL from a Russian military school; and Jonah, the boat pilot’s ten-year-old nephew. As they attempt to complete the frantic and hazardous Channel crossing their individual stories are revealed and their futures become increasingly uncertain. No Safe Place is a novel of high adventure and heart-stopping suspense by a writer at the height of her powers.

Primary ISBN:
Available As: Paperback
Middle Grade, Age 12 or older
Community Represented: Iraqi/Iraqi American, Kurdish/Kurdish American
Themes: Cross-Group Friendship, Death of Family or Friend, Human Trafficking, Migrant Smuggling, Refugee: Undocumented, Refugee: War/Conflict
Setting: France (Calais), United Kingdom
Character’s New Arrival/New American Status: Refugee
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