The Other Boy: The True Story of One Refugee Family’s Journey to Find Home

About this book

This is the true story of how Hamed and his family fled Afghanistan and Taliban rule in 2000 when Hamed was 10 years old. He was just an ordinary boy living a happy life in Herat, a beautiful green city in west Afghanistan. They had run or be killed after Hamed’s mum made a public speech about girls needing education, not something the Taliban agreed with then, or now. The family had to spend 18 months fleeing through many countries before eventually finding a home in Cardiff. Some of that journey was absolutely terrifying, all of it was utterly exhausting, and it’s a good reminder for everyone at this time to step into a refugee’s shoes. The story starts with Hamed aged 11 and goes right up to him going to college, but the main focus is on his journey.  

Hamed tells the story so well, and it’s especially interesting on how the problems didn’t stop neatly when he reached Cardiff. He did badly at school and didn’t turn his life around until much later, inspired by his amazing sounding brother – so this is also a book to help young people on a bad track turn things around. It does contain peril, references to torture and violence but no graphic descriptions. It also has death, physical health complications of Hamed's big brother and grief. It’s a great, inspirational read for aged 10 plus.