The Stray and the Strangers
Author: Steven Heighton
Publisher: Groundwood Books
The fishermen on Lesvos call her Kanella because of her cinnamon color. She's a scrawny, nervous stray - intimidated by the harbor cats and the other dogs that compete for handouts on the pier.
One spring day, a dinghy filled with weary, desperate strangers comes to shore. Other boats follow, crowded with refugees who are homeless and hungry. Kanella knows what that is like, and she follows them as they are taken to a temporary refugee camp set up in the parking lot of an abandoned nightclub. There she comes to trust a bearded man -- an aid worker. She is given shelter like the refugees, who line up for food and who sleep on the ground for a few nights before being taken to a much bigger, permanent camp that the aid workers call Mordor.
Then, one day, a little boy arrives and does not leave like the others. He seems to have no family, and he sleeps on a cot in the food hut, where Kanella keeps him warm and calm.
But life in a refugee camp is uncertain at best. Where will Kanella and the boy go? Will they ever find a permanent home?
Beautifully written start to finish, this book is an absolute gem. The tragic story of refugees streaming onto an island that initially responds sympathetically, and then less and less so, is poignantly told through a dog’s point of view. In a lesser writer’s hands, that would be trite. In this telling, it’s powerful. What an amazing way to tell a poignant tale, and to provide a talking point for adults and children to fill in the background story. The fact that it’s based on a true story is all the more touching. It’s a book that crosses all age lines. Get it. Read it. And please, Steven Heighton, write more young peoples’ books.
-P.W.