Two boys. One war-torn country. A world away, freedom.

Twelve-year-old Adel and his cousin Shafi try to lead a normal childhood in war-torn Afghanistan. But when Adel's father dies, everything changes. His uncle, a religious fundamentalist, sends Adel to study at a madrasa run by militants, where he is trained as an insurgent and chosen to carry out a suicide bombing. When his moment of martyrdom arrives, Adel's detonator fails, and he is forced to flee the country or risk being killed by the Afghan police or the Taliban themselves.

Together, Adel and Shafi set out to seek refuge in England, where Shafi's brother now lives and where a new life awaits. With that hope, the two boys begin the perilous journey of 6,000 miles to freedom, crossing mountains on foot and squeezing into crowded trucks with other refugees. The two become separated only to find each other again in the Calais Jungle encampment, their last, hellish stop.

Based on numerous testimonies from refugee youth, this poignant, timely, and well-documented story brings to life the traumatic experiences faced by Afghani children fleeing war and poverty, as well as the isolation they often feel as refugees in the West.

About the Author

Stephane Marchetti is an author, director, and producer of documentaries. His film Rafah, chroniques d'une ville dans la bande de Gaza won the Albert Londres Prize in 2008. 6,000 Miles to Freedom is based on testimony collected in his 2017 documentary, Les enfants de la jungle.

Cyrille Pomes published his first comic book, A la lettre pres, in 2005. Since then, he has collaborated with historian Jean-Pierre Filiu on Le printemps de Arabes and Le dame de Damas and with Isabelle Merlet on the prize-winning Le fils de l'Ursari, based on the novel by Xavier-Laurent Petit.

Reviews

"Testimonies from refugee youth inform Marchetti's story, its timely urgency inspiring a reading in one sitting."

-starred review Shelf Awareness

"A timely reminder of the realities of the refugee crisis."

-Andy Oliver Broken Frontier

Book Information
ISBN 9781637790212
Author Stephane Marchetti
Format Hardback
Page Count 128
Imprint Graphic Mundi
Publisher Pennsylvania State University Press
Weight(grams) 680g
Dimensions(mm) 295mm * 191mm * 15mm