First published 2025
Babak straps a chalkboard to his back and fills a satchel with textbooks. His father has died, leaving him and his little sister as orphans in 1941 Iran. German armies sweep across Europe while British and Soviet forces occupy their neutral country. Soldiers crowd the teahouses of Isfahan. Nazi spies move through the alleyways. The siblings fear separation and hatch a desperate plan. Babak will assume his father's former role as an educator to the wandering tribes. They set out to locate the nomads during their annual mountain crossing. The dangerous path brings them face to face with a Jewish boy fleeing a Nazi agent. Now all three children must outrun death itself. Tanks rumble and planes roar overhead as young people from different backgrounds search for shared understanding. Their survival depends on reaching safety before their pursuers catch them.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, war, adventure
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Iran, Isfahan, Europe
Period: 1941
190 pages · Kindle Edition · Levine Querido
Content warnings: war