The Lightless Sky Lib/E: A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World

Author:   Susan Duerden ,  Gulwali Passarlay ,  Nadene Ghouri ,  Assaf Cohen
Publisher:   HarperCollins
Edition:   Library Edition
ISBN:  

9781504716970


Publication Date:   05 January 2016
Format:   Audio  Audio Format
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
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The Lightless Sky Lib/E: A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World


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Overview

"A gripping, inspiring, and eye-opening memoir of fortitude and survival--of a twelve-year-old boy's traumatic flight from Afghanistan to the West--that puts a face to one of the most shocking and devastating humanitarian crises of our time. ""To risk my life had to mean something. Otherwise what was it all for?"" In 2006, after his father was killed, Gulwali Passarlay was caught between the Taliban who wanted to recruit him, and the Americans who wanted to use him. To protect her son, Gulwali's mother sent him away. The search for safety would lead the twelve-year-old across eight countries, from the mountains of eastern Afghanistan through Iran and Europe to Britain. Over the course of twelve harrowing months, Gulwali endured imprisonment, hunger, cruelty, brutality, loneliness, and terror--and nearly drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Eventually granted asylum in England, Gulwali was sent to a good school, learned English, won a place at a top university, and was chosen to help carry the Olympic Torch in the 2012 London Games. In The Lightless Sky, Gulwali recalls his remarkable experience and offers a firsthand look at one of the most pressing issues of our time: the modern refugee crisis--the worst displacement of millions of men, women, and children in generations. Few, like Gulwali, make it to a country that offers the chance of freedom and opportunity. A celebration of courage and determination, The Lightless Sky is a poignant account of an exceptional human being who is today an ardent advocate of democracy--and a reminder of our responsibilities to those caught in terrifying and often deadly circumstances beyond their control."

Full Product Details

Author:   Susan Duerden ,  Gulwali Passarlay ,  Nadene Ghouri ,  Assaf Cohen
Publisher:   HarperCollins
Imprint:   HarperCollins
Edition:   Library Edition
ISBN:  

9781504716970


ISBN 10:   1504716973
Publication Date:   05 January 2016
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Audio
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

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Reviews

A vivid, timely story of survival. If spies live in boredom punctuated by flashes of terrifying action, then refugees on the run live in constant high anxiety punctuated by flashes of horror and panic. -- Kirkus Reviews A remarkably vivid memoir [that] leaves you fearing for Gulwali's safety...also a fearsome reminder of the experiences being endured by numberless, anonymous migrants. -- Herald (Glasgow) A heartrending read that illuminates the plight of unaccompanied minors forced to leave their homes and loved ones...A testament to the courage of all those fleeing conflict in search of safety. -- Independent (London) A powerful account of a year-long journey...[A] life that was almost snuffed out so prematurely is now bursting with promise. -- Times (London) Narrator Assaf Cohen so perfectly captures the voice of an expressive kid that it's hard to remember he isn't the author of this enthralling memoir...Cohen nails both the nasty and nice characters-everyone from Kurd to Englishman-and brings moving expression to Gulwali's growing confidence amid enough terrors for a lifetime. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award. -- AudioFile


A remarkably vivid memoir [that] leaves you fearing for Gulwali's safety...also a fearsome reminder of the experiences being endured by numberless, anonymous migrants. -- Herald (Glasgow) A vivid, timely story of survival. If spies live in boredom punctuated by flashes of terrifying action, then refugees on the run live in constant high anxiety punctuated by flashes of horror and panic. -- Kirkus Reviews A heartrending read that illuminates the plight of unaccompanied minors forced to leave their homes and loved ones...A testament to the courage of all those fleeing conflict in search of safety. -- Independent (London) A powerful account of a year-long journey...[A] life that was almost snuffed out so prematurely is now bursting with promise. -- Times (London) Narrator Assaf Cohen so perfectly captures the voice of an expressive kid that it's hard to remember he isn't the author of this enthralling memoir...Cohen nails both the nasty and nice characters-everyone from Kurd to Englishman-and brings moving expression to Gulwali's growing confidence amid enough terrors for a lifetime. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award. -- AudioFile


A heartrending read that illuminates the plight of unaccompanied minors forced to leave their homes and loved ones...A testament to the courage of all those fleeing conflict in search of safety. -- Independent (London) A powerful account of a year-long journey...[A] life that was almost snuffed out so prematurely is now bursting with promise. -- Times (London) A remarkably vivid memoir [that] leaves you fearing for Gulwali's safety...also a fearsome reminder of the experiences being endured by numberless, anonymous migrants. -- Herald (Glasgow) A vivid, timely story of survival. If spies live in boredom punctuated by flashes of terrifying action, then refugees on the run live in constant high anxiety punctuated by flashes of horror and panic. -- Kirkus Reviews Narrator Assaf Cohen so perfectly captures the voice of an expressive kid that it's hard to remember he isn't the author of this enthralling memoir...Cohen nails both the nasty and nice characters-everyone from Kurd to Englishman-and brings moving expression to Gulwali's growing confidence amid enough terrors for a lifetime. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award. -- AudioFile


Author Information

Susan Duerden is an actress and an Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator. Her reading of The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht earned her an AudioFile Best Voice Award and a Booklist Editors' Choice Award. She has won ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. Here career spans film, television, theater, voice-overs, and animation. She has played critically acclaimed and award-winning theatrical roles on London's West End and Off Broadway; acted in the features Lovewrecked and Flushed Away; and held a recurring role on ABC's Lost. Gulwali Passarlay was sent away from Afghanistan as a young boy, fleeing the conflict that had claimed his father's life. After an extraordinarily tortuous journey across eight countries, Gulwali arrived in the United Kingdom a year later and has most recently devoted his new life to education. Now twenty-one years old, he is set to graduate from the University of Manchester with a degree in politics. Gulwali is a member of many prestigious political, aid, and youth groups, each a stepping-stone to his ultimate goal: to run for the presidency of Afghanistan. Nadene Ghouri is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. She is a former correspondent of the BBC and Al Jazeera English. Assaf Cohen is an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. He has appeared in various plays, short films, and television shows. He grew up in Palo Alto and attended UC Berkeley where he earned a bachelor's degree in integrative biology. He continued his classical training by earning a master of fine arts in acting from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University under the instruction of legendary acting instructor William Esper.

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