Against the Storm

Hicyilmaz paints a vivid and disturbing picture of poverty in this insightful novel set in Turkey. From the very beginning, young Mehmet regrets his parents' decision to leave their drought-plagued village in search of a better life. As he feared, his family fares worse in the capital city of Ankara, where jobs are scarce and the streets are filled with beggars and swindlers. Soon the family finds itself in debt to a rich, scheming uncle and everyone, including Mehmet, must take whatever jobs they can in order to survive. With the help of a homeless runaway, Mehmet learns some tricks of survival; a friendship with a woman named Zekiye Hanim also proves beneficial. While the spirits of people around him are broken by hardship and tragedy, Mehmet ultimately escapes the crippling effects of despair. Like Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and Arnow's The Dollmaker , this novel explores feelings of uprootedness while tracing the experiences of a migrant family. If readers become downcast by the author's bleak rendering of social corruption, disease and injustice, most will find relief in the protagonist's ability to discover salvation for himself as well as for a needy friend. Ages 12-up. (May)