Boy Everywhere is a refugee story which successfully challenges the many stereotypes and rhetoric about terrorists and racism in its depiction of the experiences of its young protagonist. Sami has a privileged life in Syria and despite the civil war, in Damascus things are not too bad: his family have a nice house and good jobs and he and his best friend Joseph enjoy gaming and even school. That is until his mother and little sister go to the Mall to pick up his new football boots and a bomb explodes. The narrative then takes a shape familiar to us from the news, of a perilous journey ending in the UK. But the second half of the story charts newer territory and involves the horrors of prison like detention, homelessness and a hostile environment in a strange land when all Sami wants is to be back home. His first person narration gives us a tale which rebukes many of the stereotypes that make refugees 'the other' and readers will readily identify with this empathetic and intelligent character, who is of course more like us than not. A very worthwhile addition to the canon about the refugee experience and a novel which will richly reward year 5 and 6 readers.