Book dossier

Alpha

by Bessora, Barroux, Sarah Ardizzone

"Determined to reunite with his family, Alpha sets off from his home in Cote d'Ivoire, bound for Paris, where his sister-in-law has a hair salon near the Gare du Nord train station. Alpha's wife and son left for France months ago, traveling without visas, and he has heard nothing from them since. With a visa, Alpha's journey would take a matter of hours. Without one, he is adrift for over a year, encountering human traffickers in the desert, refugee camps in Mali and Algeria, overcrowded boats carrying migrants between the Canary Islands and Europe's southern coast, and a cast of companions lost and found along the way. Throughout, Alpha stays the course, carrying his loved ones' photograph close to his heart as he makes his perilous trek across the continent --