In the Pakistani border town of Quetta his mother whispers* advice to 10-year-old Enaiatollah Akbadi before putting him to bed: Do not steal, cheat, take drugs or use weapons*. When he wakes the next morning she has disappeared, having returned home to the village in Afghanistan to take care of her younger son.

    Enaiat is a Hazara, the target of Taliban killings. To save him from the dangers of living at home, his mother has left him to fend for* himself in another land where he might have a chance of surviving*.

    Penniless and homeless, unable to speak the local language, Enaiat discovers quickly that he can work. After working in a hostel* he moves on to street trading and starts to save money.

    To live a better life, he pays human-traffickers to get him to Iran. He lives and works on building sites, factories, wherever he can find a shelter*, saving up before he heads by foot across the mountains to Turkey*, then in a small dinghy* to Greece*. He somehow manages to survive and get to Italy*, while many of his companions do not.

    He is not only lucky but also smart and has the ability to connect with people — some of whom are kind and help him at crucial* moments.

    The Chinese version of this book is available on dangdang.com and English version can be found at amazon.com.(SD-Agencies)