Close to his tenth birthday, Abbas has to leave his parents and friends, and flee Tehran. The Iran-Iraq war is at its bloodiest. The Ayatollahs, the rulers in Iran, have reduced the age of recruitment into the army. And if Abbas doesn’t leave soon, he will have to go to war.
In the strange and often frightening city of Istanbul, Abbas has to grow up faster than ever.
He can't speak Turkish.
Who can he trust?
He works three jobs to make ends meet.
Most of all, he has to guard against being manipulated, and watch his back at all times.
Like all stories, this one is often happy and sometimes sad.
But unlike most others, this one is true.
It's hard to imagine that he is able to survive.
