A frank, revealing and clear-eyed testament of the experiences faced by a young asylum-seeker in the contemporary world

A moving and eye-opening account chronicles hardships no child should have to endure, mitigated by intermittent kindnesses

A beautifully written and moving book

This little gem, beautifully and unobtrusively translated, will raise tears of sorrow and joy

The threat of arrest and deportation is constant, with worse to fear at the hands of traffickers... A remarkable story

The personal stories of refugees and their life-or-death battles are usually lost in between the lines of news reports. In direct and undecorated prose, Fabio Geda beautifully delivers the human experience of Enaiatollah, a ten-year-old Afghani boy, whose will for survival is more than remarkable. In the Sea There Are Crocodiles will make you laugh and cry, and it will also make you a better person. Everyone should read this book

If anything, this book is more chilling than heart-warming. Though Enaiatollah survives the Iranian shooting, the man next to him is killed. After a three-day journey in the false bottom of a lorry, during which he is unable to get out even to go to the toilet, he "pee[s] blood for the next few weeks". And though he survives the journey across the Aegean in an inflatable dinghy that comes, with oars, in a box ("an Ikea flatpack for illegals"), his young companion is tossed overboard in a storm and "taken by the darkness"... What is clear from this beautiful book is that young Enaiatollah finally reaches Turin and, much to his delight... finally goes back to school. An end one might go so far as to call heart-warming

A journey of true grit and determination for one so young in years. The story alone is superb; add in Enaiatollah's engaging prose and this books sings on the page. Highly recommended

She's a great writer...a wonderfully entertaining story packed with moral conundrums and beautiful writing

Ian is a little star. His many sayings and observations that he'll burst out with are endearing - and often funny. It's clear that Lucy is smitten by her favourite 'borrower.'

This story - often fun, sometimes sad, always bookish - deals with big issues...Rebecca Makkai's literary debut will appeal to young adults and readers of adult literary fiction

In Makkai's picaresque first novel, Lucy, a 26-year-old children's librarian, "borrows" her favorite patron, bright, book-loving 10-year-old Ian, after his fundamentalist parents enroll him in a program meant to "cure" his nascent homosexuality.

His biggest, most ambitious and most engaging novel to date

Psychological acuity, a wonderful linguistic precision and the ability to make beautiful accordance between form and content via thoughtful narrative experiment. Gods without Men is a step further along the road towards the full realisation of Kunzru's early promise. It makes undeniable the claim that he is one of our most important novelists . . . As large and cruel and real as life

Ambitiously eclectic . . . smartly sharp social detail, high-fidelity dialogue, vivid evocation of place . . . ironic wit and exuberant guyings of paranormal gobbledegook

Fuelled by an energetic intelligence. Along with a love of big ideas came narrative zest, verbal and comic flair, and an acute eye for contemporary mores both East and West . . . Gods with Men marks another new and bold departure . . . This really is Kunru's great American novel . . . Compulsively readable, skilfully orchestrated, Kunzru's American odyssey brings a new note into his underlying preoccupation with human identity'

Being able to create a vivid sense of place is one of the hallmarks of a quality literary writer, but few could have done so as brilliantly as Hari Kunzru in his latest novel Gods without Men

Intensely involving . . . Gods Without Men is one of the best novels of the year