Shif and his best friend Bini both know what they want to be when they grow up and are fiercely competitive when it comes to chess; so far so ordinary, but in a country with enforced, indefinite, military conscription that is where the similarities with most readers' lives will end. The story of the children's imprisonment, Shif's escape and subsequent journey (one fraught with danger and physical discomfort, through foreign countries and a terrifying final trip on a boat), is gripping and told with great empathy. leaving the reader with a very real sense of a refugee's experience.