Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin
Ebo is alone. His brother, Kwame, has disappeared, and Ebo knows it can only be to attempt the hazardous journey to Europe, and a better life, the same journey their sister set out on months ago. But Ebo refuses to be left behind in Ghana. Ebo's epic quest takes him across the Sahara Desert to the dangerous streets of Tripoli, and finally out to the merciless sea. But with every step he holds on to his hope for a new life, and a reunion with his family.
Review from School Library Journal:
Twelve-year-old Ebo's tale doesn't begin on the raft on his way to Europe. It doesn't begin as he works in the streets of Tripoli, Libya, to earn his fare. It doesn't begin with the journey across the Sahara or even in his home of Ghana. It starts when his brother, Kwame, leaves home to find their sister, Sisi, long departed for Europe. Not content with a life of poverty, Ebo, too, takes off, close on his brother's heels. Colfer and Donkin gloss over nothing in their portrayal of undocumented immigration, from illness and violence to poverty and corruption. Throughout the months of hard labor he must endure to pay for a ticket, sleeping outdoors and depending on the kindness of strangers, Ebo remains determined. Rigano's dynamic images keep readers on the edge of their seats, and the portrayal of tenacious Ebo is elegant but unromanticized. In a scene toward the end, in which rescue is uncertain, the authors firmly assert that no human is illegal; Ebo says, "They must help us, we are people." The novel concludes with a starkly illustrated true account of an immigrant who faced trauma in her quest for a better life.