Notes

"Close to his tenth birthday, Abbas has to leave his parents and friends, and flee Tehran. The Iran-Iraq War is at its bloodiest. The Ayatollahs, the rulers in Iran, have reduced the age of recruitment into the army. And if Abbas doesn't leave soon, he will have to go to war. In the strange and often frightening city of Istanbul, Abbas has to grow up faster than ever. He has to learn difficult things - how to live on his own, how to make his way around, and most importantly, how to judge who is a friend and who is an enemy. Living alone for fourteen weeks in a rundown hotel, Abbas finds a friend in Mourat, the owner, while he waits to get his dream-visa to England"--Back cover.