Mahmoud Bishara, a twelve-year-old boy, tries to live an “invisible” life in Aleppo, Syria. After four years of war, he has become paranoid, and his younger brother, Waleed, no longer expresses emotions. There was an open revolt against Syria’s ruler, Bashar al-Assad, following the Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen. With the Syrian military attacking its own civilians, Mahmoud has learned not to stand out or be noticed.
While walking home with Waleed, Mahmoud sees a boy being beaten and robbed by two older boys. Mahmoud thinks of the time that he tried to save his friend Khalid from a similar attack, except that Khalid was attacked for being a Shia Muslim (in a predominately Sunni country). Mahmoud’s attempt to rescue Khalid was unsuccessful, and he was also beaten. Afterward, he and Khalid were regularly attacked by the older boys, reinforcing Mahmoud’s decision to become invisible. Khalid died in an airstrike a year later, convincing Mahmoud that it was better not to have friends. Mahmoud and Waleed ignore the robbery and take a different route home.
After praying, Mahmoud returns to his homework while Waleed watches cartoons. There is a loud noise outside as Mahmoud’s neighborhood is bombed. A blast that throws Mahmoud into a wall destroys his apartment. After catching his breath, Mahmoud starts looking for his family members. As more bombs go off, Mahmoud looks out across the street through the empty space where the wall of his apartment used to be.
Mahmoud pulls his brother back from the edge left by the missing wall. The two, along with Mahmoud’s mother and sister, Hana, escape the building just before it collapses. Mahmoud’s father, Youssef, joins them and tells them that they must all flee the country. They will travel to Turkey in their car and then sell the car and travel to Germany, where refugees are accepted. When the family questions Youssef about the plan, he tells them that their home is destroyed, but they have some money and their lives. Mahmoud thinks about how far Germany was from Syria on the maps he studied in school.
As Mahmoud and his family drive toward Turkey, he thinks about all of the factions in his country: the military, the rebels, the Daesh (ISIS), as well as the Russians and Americans with their airstrikes. When the car is stopped by a group of soldiers, the soldiers ask Mahmoud’s father which side he supports. Waleed pipes up to say that they are against whoever dropped bombs on their house. The soldiers laugh and agree: they are rebels. The rebels get into the car, tell Mahmoud’s father that the routes to Turkey are unsafe, and then ask to be driven south. Soon after, the gunfire hits the car, killing one of the rebels. Mahmoud and his family scramble into a nearby ditch as the other rebels run from the car and start fighting.
Mahmoud and his family walk with a large group of refugees and successfully enter Turkey. Once across the border, the family walks through a refugee camp that consists of many tents. Mahmoud’s father tells the family that he has contacted a smuggler who can take them from Turkey to Greece; once inside the EU, they can apply for asylum as refugees. To meet the smuggler, the family must get to Izmir, on the Turkish coast—twelve hours away by car, if they can find a ride. Mahmoud stops at a used-goods market and buys a Ninja Turtle action figure for Waleed. Mahmoud’s father finds him and asks where the rest of the family is; he has found a ride, but they must leave immediately.
Mahmoud and his family stand in the rain in Izmir, talking to the smuggler who is supposed to take them to Greece. The smuggler tells them that they have to wait another day for the boat and gives them directions to a hotel that will take Syrians. After learning that the hotel is full, Mahmoud and his family walk to a park that is packed with refugees. A young boy offers to show them a better place to stay if they pay him. Although they are trying to save money, the family pays the boy and follows him to an abandoned shopping mall. There are other families squatting in the mall; Mahmoud’s family is led to a rundown yogurt shop. The boy who led them also convinces them that they will need to buy life jackets for their boat trip.
For more than a week, the smuggler has told Mahmoud’s family that the boat is coming “tomorrow.” The family walk back to the abandoned mall but are not allowed inside. Two men in tracksuits, one with a gun in his waistband, tell Mahmoud’s father that they have to pay to stay at the mall. The price is outrageous, so the family leaves, but Mahmoud is exhausted. While trying to find a place to sleep, Mahmoud waves down a car and tells the occupants that they need somewhere to stay. The driver agrees to help them, but Mahmoud’s father receives a text from the smuggler saying that the boat is ready. The driver takes them to the boat instead.
Mahmoud and his family are hesitant to board the smuggler’s boat because it is just an inflatable raft with an outboard motor. They decide instead to cram themselves onto the raft with thirty other refugees. None of the smugglers join them as they push out into the Mediterranean. They get the engine started and try to navigate toward the island of Lesbos, but it starts to rain. After someone shouts that they can see rocks ahead, Mahmoud is knocked out of the boat.
The rubber dinghy has burst against sharp rocks. Mahmoud swims past other refugees, trying to find his family. The life jackets that they bought do not work: his mother struggles to keep Hana above the water and his father holds Waleed. Mahmoud grabs one of his parent’s cell phones as it floats by, still sealed in a plastic bag. Another dinghy approaches but does not slow down. Mahmoud and his mother grab the dinghy, but the passengers yell at them, telling them that there is no room. Mahmoud pleads that they should at least save his sister. A woman takes Hana, and he and his mother let go of the dinghy. They are left in the dark sea, unsure where Waleed and Mahmoud’s father are.
Mahmoud’s mother is filled with grief over giving away Hana. Mahmoud tries to help her swim, but he is cold and exhausted. Mahmoud takes the life jacket from a refugee that is floating face down and says a funeral prayer for the man. He puts the jacket on his mother, to make it easier to keep them both afloat.
Mahmoud hears the sound of a motor in the distance and turns on the cell phone that he grabbed earlier. He and his mother are rescued by a Greek Coast Guard ship that has already picked up Waleed and Mahmoud’s father. When they reach the island of Lesbos, they see large hills made of life vests, abandoned by hundreds of thousands of refugees. There are also bodies on the shore, including a child, but it is not Hana. Mahmoud’s father instructs him to search the dead bodies for any shoes that might fit the family.
Mahmoud and his family wait in another refugee camp for the boat to Athens. Mahmoud’s mother wants to stay, to ask other refugees if they have seen Hana, but Mahmoud’s father insists that they move on. The ferry to Athens is very large and contains some tourists. Per his father’s suggestion, Mahmoud takes Waleed to explore the boat. When Mahmoud and Waleed come across another refugee praying, they start praying also. Mahmoud cannot understand the words that the tourists are saying, but he knows that they are disgusted. He considers that people do not care about refugees until they intrude on someone’s life. When they reach Athens, it is full of Syrian refugees, and Mahmoud’s father is told that their documents are insufficient to travel farther. Not wanting to wait longer, the family plans to take a train to the Macedonian border and sneak across the border at night.
As Mahmoud and his family travel by train, they use the maps on their phones to try to figure out the best place to cross the border into Macedonia. Mahmoud’s mother stops at every refugee camp to ask about Hana. A walk through a forest leads to another train station, closed and full of refugees. A taxi driver offers to drive them across the border and all the way to Serbia; even though the trip is expensive, they agree. Once in Serbia, just after sunup, they charge their phones at another train station that is packed with refugees. They take a bus to Belgrade, but once there, find out that the police are raiding hotels looking for illegal refugees. Mahmoud’s father finds another taxi that will take them two hours farther, to the Hungarian border. Mahmoud falls asleep in the taxi, but when he wakes up, they are stopped on a dark stretch of highway and the driver is pointing a gun at them.
The driver of the taxi demands 300 euros from Mahmoud’s father, more than double what they agreed to pay him. After Mahmoud’s father pays the man, he forces them out of his cab and drives off. Mahmoud collapses to the ground and cries, overwhelmed with exhaustion and the terror of having a gun pointed at his face. He apologizes to his mother for giving Hana away, but she tells him that he actually saved Hana. After Mahmoud recovers, they walk to a bus stop and take a bus to the Hungarian border.
The Hungarians are building a chain link fence with razor wire to keep refugees out. Several groups of refugees run at the fence, shouting that they are not terrorists and that they just want to get through to Germany. Mahmoud is pleased that the refugees are finally standing up for themselves, but he becomes frightened as he and his family are caught in the crowd surging toward the fence. The Hungarian soldiers fire teargas into the crowd, and Mahmoud’s eyes start to burn. Gasping for air, Mahmoud thinks that he will die.
Mahmoud has his wrists bound by zip ties, and he is thrown into the back of a van. When his eyes recover from the teargas, he finds that his father is also in the van. They ride for several hours and are taken to an immigration detention center. Mahmoud and his father yell for Waleed and Mahmoud’s mother as they are taken to a cell. After telling several soldiers that he never intended to stay in Hungary, Mahmoud’s father is beaten with batons. As Mahmoud and his father are led to be processed, they see Waleed and Mahmoud’s mother in another cell, full of women and children. When Mahmoud’s father calls to his wife, he is hit with a baton again. When Mahmoud and his father reach the front of the line, they are asked if they plan to claim asylum in Hungary. Mahmoud’s father says that he would not stay in Hungary if it was made of gold. The officer tells them that they will be taken back to Serbia, and if they are caught again they will be arrested. While they are escorted away, Mahmoud tries to become invisible again, to “avoid the bullies.”
Mahmoud and his father are taken to another refugee camp inside a large building and are reunited with Waleed and Mahmoud’s mother. Mahmoud’s father no longer makes jokes, and Waleed is completely silent; Mahmoud thinks that the experience has broken both of their spirits. While they are at the camp, a group of people from the United Nations arrive and start walking among the refugees, taking notes on clipboards. Mahmoud thinks about being invisible or being visible and how each has benefits. He decides to be visible. Mahmoud walks to the door of the building and opens the door. A Hungarian soldier nearby yells at him and raises her rifle but is discouraged by the UN officials. Mahmoud walks outside slowly, ignoring the soldier. After a moment, Waleed and many of the children run to Mahmoud. When Waleed asks Mahmoud what he is doing, Mahmoud tells him that he is not going back to Serbia, he is walking to Austria.
Mahmoud’s parents find him and Waleed and walk along the road toward Austria. Police officers tell the refugees that they must stop or be arrested, but the crowd keeps walking. Twelve hours later, the refugees reach the Austrian border, where they are welcomed. The Austrians had seen footage of the crowd of refugees on the news. As Mahmoud and the other refugees walk into Austria, people cheer to encourage them, and they are given food and water. Mahmoud thinks that people are finally seeing the refugees, and good people are helping them.
Mahmoud and his family travel across Austria by train and arrive in Munich, Germany the next day. Their welcome in Germany is similar to the one that they received in Austria, with crowds of people trying to help them. Mahmoud’s mother continues to search for Hana, but no one has heard of a baby that was handed to a raft of refugees. Mahmoud thinks that his father will finally get back to joking around, and Waleed will become a normal boy again. When asked if they are seeking asylum in Germany, Mahmoud’s father says, “A thousand times yes.”
Mahmoud and his family stay in Munich for four weeks before traveling to Berlin to stay with a host family. When they arrive in Berlin, Mahmoud looks at all of the large buildings and is pleased to see a park across from the host family’s home. He thinks about how long it took to rebuild Berlin after World War II and wonders if it will take as long to rebuild Aleppo. The host family is an elderly couple, Herr and Frau Rosenberg. Mahmoud recognizes the Star of David on their home and is amazed that Jewish people are taking in his family, since Jews and Muslims had been fighting for decades back in the Middle East.
Frau Rosenberg gives Waleed a stuffed rabbit, and Mahmoud tells her about losing Hana. She leads Mahmoud into her home and tells her about when she was a refugee. She shows Mahmoud an old family photo and tells him about traveling on the St. Louis with her family. (She is Ruth, Josef’s younger sister.) She tells Mahmoud that she never reconnected with her father in Cuba, and Josef and her mother died in concentration camps after Ruth was left alone in the woods. Since her mother could not choose which child the Nazis should take, Josef volunteered himself. She tells Mahmoud that she will help him find Hana. Mahmoud helps her put the picture back on the wall and, looking around, thinks that it feels “like a home.”