Refugee

Off the coast of Florida in 1994, Isabel sees the Coast Guard searchlight and fears the worst. Instead of capturing her boat, the Coast Guard goes after a raft carrying other refugees, while Isabel and her companions paddle for shore as fast as they can. To make the situation even worse, Isabel’s pregnant mother has gone into labor: “Tears streamed down [Isabel’s] face, from sorrow or fear or exhaustion, she didn’t know. All she knew was that they were still too far from shore” (262).

In Hungary, Mahmoud and the rest of the refugees are loaded onto trucks and taken to a detention center. When Mahmoud’s father is clubbed by the guards for refusing to cooperate, Mahmoud tries to become invisible: “Head down, hoodie up, eyes on the ground. Be unimportant. Blend in. Disappear. That was how you avoided the bullies” (269).

In Antwerp, Josef and his family are celebrating because “Belgium, Holland, France, and England had agreed to divide the refugees among them. None of the passengers were going back to Germany” (270). Josef’s passenger group is being transported to Boulogne, France. From there, the family moves to Le Mans and slowly gets back on their feet, but their happiness is short-lived.