Time of Miracles

Zusatztext "A refugee boy and his mother flee Georgia in 1989 and travel alone through the Caucasus for eight years to reach France. Koumaïl has always lived with Gloria! who tells him stories of rescuing him from a bombed train and stealing passports from his dead French mother. As civil war engulfs the Caucasus! they escape! moving from one refugee camp to the next! suffering hunger and illness. Along the way! Koumaïl makes friends and finds first love! supported by Gloria! who calls him her "little miracle!" promises "tomorrow life will be better" and reminds him to "be happy... at all times." When they arrive in France! Gloria vanishes! leaving Koumaïl to survive alone to become a real French citizen. Koumaïl tells his story "in the right order!" from the perspective of a 20-year-old refugee who ultimately discovers his true identity and that of the optimistic! resourceful woman who made "up stories to make life more bearable." A beautifully cadenced tribute to maternal love and the power of stories amid contemporary political chaos." - Kirkus Reviews ! starred "An exceptional story."-- School Library Journal ! starred "[A] beautifully nuanced novel."-- Publishers Weekly ! starred "Readers will find themselves mesmerized not only by the eloquent language but by a plot every bit as harrowing and surprising as Koumail's cherished bedtime story."-- The Horn Book Magazine ! starred Informationen zum Autor Anne-Laure Bondoux has received numerous literary prizes in her native France. Among her previous books published by Delacorte Press is The Killer’s Tears! which received the prestigious Prix Sorcières in France and was a Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book in the United States. From the Hardcover edition. Chapter One My name is Blaise Fortune and I am a citizen of the French Republic. It's the pure and simple truth. I was almost twelve years old the day the customs officers found me in the back of the truck. I stank as badly as the garbage shed where Abdelmalik slept, and all I was able to say was "Mynameisblaisefortuneandiamacitizenofthefrenchrepublicitsthepureandsimpletruth." I had lost nearly all of my precious belongings along the way. Fortunately, I still had my passport; Gloria had made sure to stick it deep in my jacket pocket when we were at the service station. My passport proved that I was born on December 28, 1985, at Mont-Saint-Michel, on the French side of the English Channel, per page 16 of the green atlas. It was written in black and white. The problem was my photo: it had been removed, then glued back, and even though Mr. Ha had faked the official seal with the greatest care, the customs officers didn't believe that I was really a French boy. I wanted to explain my story to them, but I didn't have the vocabulary. So they pulled me out of the truck by the neck of my sweater and took me away. This is how my childhood ended: brutally, on the side of a highway, when I realized that Gloria had disappeared and that I would have to cope without her in the country known for human rights and for the poetry of Charles Baudelaire. After that I spent countless days in a triage zone, then in a shelter. France was just a succession of walls, fences, and doors. I slept in dormitories that reminded me of the Matachine's attic, except that there was no dormer window to watch the stars through. I was alone in the world. But I couldn't let despair eat away at my soul. More so than ever, I had to go to Mont-Saint-Michel to find my mother! It was easy to explain it all, but I didn't know the language. I couldn't give details about the Terrible Accident or the hazards of life that had brought me here. And when you can't express yourself, it's like dying of suffocation. Things are different today. Many years have gone by, and now I can name everything; I...

Produktdetails

• Autoren: Anne-Laure Bondoux, Y. Maudet
• Mitarbeit: Y. Maudet (Übersetzung)
• Verlag: Random House USA
• Sprache: Englisch
• Altersempfehlung: ab 12 Jahren
• Produktform: Taschenbuch
• Erschienen: 14.08.2012
• EAN: 9780375860362
• ISBN: 978-0-375-86036-2
• Thema: Kinder- und Jugendbücher > Jugendbücher ab 12 Jahre