On opening this book the horror hits you. A body sinks to the depths of the Mediterranean Sea and the fish are there to receive it. The body is of a refugee joining more than 12 000 other bodies that lie together in this mass grave right on the edge of Europe.

Armin Greder takes us on a journey from this watery grave back to where this story begins. Angry men with guns chasing terrified men, women and children as they flee from their villages. Refugees clambering on board a boat that is over-crowded and unsafe. And then to have their dreams of a better life smashed as their boat sinks with all lives lost.

Armin Greder’s dark and foreboding charcoal prominent drawings are devastatingly real. There are no words to go with his illustrations so it is left to us to tell the story in our heads. This is not difficult. We all know the ghastly stories about refugees and those that are lost at sea. But we know nothing about them. They are nameless people who just become statistics in the media. But Armin Greder wants us to go further than that. He wants us to understand why this ‘modern-day exodus’ is happening. Why thousands of people take the risk to leave their homes and often sacrifice their lives doing so. He also wants us to understand that with all the carnage in the Mediterranean Sea, there is a great silence surrounding most of the boats that have sunk.

I have pored over each page in this book many times. I know that many of us are astounded and ashamed in the way our refugees are treated and yet we feel powerless to affect change.

At the back of this book, Alessandro Leogrande, a well-known writer and journalist, has written the Afterword. This is well worth reading.

This book should be in all homes and libraries especially where there are young people.

Reviewed by Merle Morcom
Age Guide 12+