Ebook: The boy on the beach: my family's escape from Syria and our hope for a new home

Alan Kurdi's body washed up on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea on September 2, 2015, and overnight, the political became personal, as the world awoke to the reality of the Syrian refugee crisis. Tima Kurdi first saw the shocking photo of her nephew in her home in Vancouver, Canada. Tima recounts her idyllic childhood in Syria, where she grew up with her brother Abdullah and other siblings in a tight knit family. A strong willed, independent woman, Tima studied to be a hairdresser and had dreams of seeing the world. At twenty two, she emigrated to Canada, but much of her family remained in Damascus. As Tima struggled to adapt to life in a new land, war overtook her homeland. Caught in the crosshairs of civil war, her family risked everything and fled their homes. Tima worked tirelessly to help them find safety, but their journey was far from easy. Although thwarted by politics, hounded by violence, and separated by vast distances, the Kurdis never gave up hope. And when tragedy struck, Tima suddenly found herself thrust onto the world stage as an advocate for refugees everywhere, a role for which she had never prepared but that allowed her to give voice to those who didn't have an opportunity to speak for themselves. Bestseller. 2018.