Review and Giveaway: In the Sea There Are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda

Title: In The Sea There Are Crocodiles
Author: Fabio Geda
Publisher: Doubleday
Publish Date: August 9, 2011
Source: Received from the publisher. This did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You love a book with a good adventure.
• You liked books like The Kite Runner.

What's The Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "One night before putting him to bed, Enaiatollah's mother tells him three things: don't use drugs, don't use weapons, and don't steal. The next day he wakes up to find she isn't there. Ten-year-old Enaiatollah is left alone in Pakistan to fend for himself. In a book that takes a true story and shapes it into a beautiful piece of fiction, Italian novelist Fabio Geda describes Enaiatollah's remarkable five-year journey from Afghanistan to Italy where he finally managed to claim political asylum aged fifteen. His ordeal took him through Iran, Turkey and Greece, working on building sites in order to pay people-traffickers, and enduring the physical misery of dangerous border crossings squeezed into the false bottoms of lorries or trekking across inhospitable mountains. A series of almost implausible strokes of fortune enabled him to get to Turin, find help from an Italian family and meet Fabio Geda, with whom he became friends. The result of their friendship is this unique book in which Enaiatollah's engaging, moving voice is brilliantly captured by Geda's subtly simple storytelling. In Geda's hands, Enaiatollah's journey becomes a universal story of stoicism in the face of fear, and the search for a place where life is liveable."

My Two Cents:

Imagine leaving your family at a very young age and continuously being on the move for five whole years. This would make an amazing book by itself but what makes In the Sea There Are Crocodiles even more amazing is that it is based in fact. This book is considered a fiction because of the liberty taken with some of the detail that Enaiatollah did not remember exactly. Enaiatollah (what a hard name to spell; I'll call him E) faces these challenges with the strength and wisdom of someone more than double his age at the time. I know that if I had to go what E went through at his age, I would have failed miserably. In fact, if I were forced to be on the run for five years now as a 25 year old, I would still probably fail. I cannot imagine going through everything that he went through. I read most of this book with my mouth wide open in disbelief.


The way that Geda writes E's story is really wonderful. He writes it as E tells the story with Geda's interjections to ask a question every once in awhile. I kind of felt that it made it feel like along with telling Geda his story, E was also telling me his story. I thought that was a nice touch to make me, as the reader, feel more involved with the story.


This is a story of perseverance and the basic human want we all have, which is to be safe and secure. This is a really good book and I couldn't put it down. It's also a very quick read and I found myself wanting more when I was finished!


Bottom line: This is a wonderful book for anyone who wants to be amazed!

And now for the giveaway: The publisher has graciously offered me copies of this book to give away to two lucky A Bookish Affair readers!!! The giveaway ends September 5th at 11:59PM EST.


Rules:
- Must be a U.S. resident
- Must be a follower of A Bookish Affair
- Must be 13 or older
- The winner will have 48 hours to reply to me


How to enter?: Just leave a comment on this blog post with either your favorite adventure story or the book that you're most looking forward to coming out this fall and your email address!