Illegal by Eoin Colfer (review)

In narration that moves between “Then” and “Now,” twelve-year-old Ghanaian refugee Ebo recounts his harrowing flight from his village on the heels of his older brother, Kwame, who left to get a toehold in Europe, where he hoped to find their older sister, get work, and send for Ebo. Ebo couldn’t wait, and readers piece together his route and his resourcefulness in securing passage with no money to his name. The graphic novelization may be fictional, but the details are heartbreaking and convincing, as Ebo schmoozes his way onto a bus; sells antiseptic wipes that fell off the back of a truck in Agadez, Niger; reunites with Kwame and takes off northward across the desert with shady traffickers; and finally, in Tripoli, secures a place on a boat bound for Italy. It is on the leaky, overcrowded inflatable raft that the “Now” plot thread unwinds, as fourteen hapless refugees run out of food and water and, finally, hope, only to be saved by a ship. There’s still tragedy to come, though, and Ebo faces unbearable loss before he’s delivered to a refugee center and ultimately into the arms of his sister. Rigano’s paneled artwork ably conveys the unforgiving land- and seascapes the migrants traverse as well as the surreal passage of time as it switches from long days adrift and brief, violent encounters ashore. Readers may suspect a benevolent authorial hand at work in Ebo’s knowledge of what to do in almost any heretofore unknown situation, in his ability to sing his way out of trouble, and in his lucky breaks at finding his brother in Africa and his sister in Europe, but most will agree that luck plays a significant role in determining who reaches shore alive. A map, a note from the creators, and a brief black and white interview with Helen, a refugee who actually survived a similar journey, will be included in the bound book.