Ramadan Readathon: A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea

Description: Doaa and her family leave war-torn Syria for Egypt where the climate is becoming politically unstable and increasingly dangerous. She meets and falls in love with Bassem, a former Free Syrian Army fighter and together they decide to leave behind the hardship and harassment they face in Egypt to flee for Europe, joining the ranks of the thousands of refugees who make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean on overcrowded and run-down ships to seek asylum overseas and begin a new life.
  After four days at sea, their boat is sunk by another boat filled with angry men shouting threats and insults. With no land in sight and surrounded by bloated, floating corpses, Doaa is adrift with a child’s inflatable water ring around her waist, while two little girls cling to her neck. Doaa must stay alive for them. She must not lose strength. She must not lose hope.

Review: A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea is a story of heartbreak, hope, and a human crisis. This memoir follows a teen Syrian refugee, Doaa Al Zamel’s perilous and personal journey to Europe in hopes of pursuing a future of peace and opportunities. Initially a subject of a TED talk by Melissa Fleming, the head of communications and chief spokesperson for the United High Commissioner for Refugees, the book expounds upon the topic. Doaa Al Zamel was only nineteen years old when she and her family flee from their homeland of Syria due to a civil war and a brutal government who crushed any opposition. The book gives a general yet clear understanding of the complexities of the ongoing Syrian civil war. The numbers of Syrian civilians who are either displaced or have been killed during the civil war is daunting and eye opening.
  We follow Doaa as she is awaken to the disparities of what has become of her homeland. She joined demonstrations and joined the rebellion which was sparked by the Arab Spring, but soon she realizes that revolution and the desire for change comes at a very high cost as her neighborhood is continuously shelled, held under martial law, and the lives of her family are at stake. The family seeks temporary shelter in Egypt, but soon the change of the Egyptian government had looked down upon refugees. The book has plenty of dark moments but there are also lighter ones such as Doaa finding love in the very unlikely place and hope once again bloomed in her heart for a new chance at life in Europe.
  Doaa left with the vaguely formed idea of making her way to asylum in Europe. The trip nearly cost her life. In the hands of smugglers, beset by rough seas and pirates, she survived a horrific shipwreck, so far among the deadliest in the annals of illegal migration from Africa to Europe. With the exception of a handful of survivors, all the other refugees including her fiance, died from either drowning, hypothermia, and/or dehydration. Set adrift at sea for four days, she barely survived while also saving the life of a toddler, earning awards from humanitarian agencies and calling renewed attention to the plight of refugees from Syria. Finally resettled in Sweden, Doaa’s story is one of the few refugee tales that seem to have a happy ending yet her struggles are far from over.
  I like how this book is very upfront and puts a personal face to a humanitarian crisis. There is no sentimentality attached to the story. Doaa is not propped as a role model from the get go. She is human who has flaws such as a being incredibly stubborn and having a bad temper. She is an ordinary woman who has gone through extraordinary and tragic events in her life. Her ordinariness is extremely important and a reminder for everyone to see that a refugee is a human being and no different from you and I. She is not a terrorist nor is she out to snatch away anyone's benefits, jobs, or rights away from them, but a symbol of hope. Doaa's story reminds us that a refugee is a human being not any other label that people attach to it, but an individual that wants freedom and the pursuit of happiness.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There are scenes of sexual harassment, attempted sexual assault, strong violence of war, and disturbing images. Recommended for teens and adults only.

If you like this book try: The Unwanted by Don Brown, Escape from Syria by Samya Kullab