Superga
(Sneaker) Book not yet available in English
Summary:
For this story, the author and the illustrator teamed up to create a young adult graphic novel that traces the journey of teenager Hamid fleeing across the desert from Iran to the West after his people, the Hazara, were attacked by the Afghan Taliban. Along the way, he finds a single sneaker, taking it as a sign of hope and a promise that he will safely reach a better world. When he finally reaches Slovenia and receives an identical pair, he realizes that his three-year odyssey is finally over and that he has arrived.
Edited by: Mestna knjižnica Ljubljana
Comment:
Although fictional, the author based the story on a real person. In 2008, while working in an asylum centre as part of a refugee housing assistance project, she met an Afghan boy who shared his journey from Afghanistan to Slovenia. Several of the author’s works deal with themes of migration and refugees, for example; the novel Na drugi strani (On the Other Side), the picture book Ali te lahko objamem močno? (Can I Give You a Big Hug?) also created in collaboration with D. Stepančič), the picture book Požar (Fire) … The book has received the Golden Pear Quality Badge.