Samuele is twelve years old. He lives on an island in the Mediterranean, far away from mainland Italy. Like all boys of his age, he would rather climb the rocks by the shore, play with his slingshot or mooch about the port than going to school. But his home is not like other islands. For years, it has been the destination of men, women and children trying to make the crossing from Africa in boats that are far too small and decrepit. The island is Lampedusa which has become a metaphor for the flight of refugees to Europe, the hopes, hardship and fate of hundreds of thousands of emigrants.
