A Hope More Powerful than the Sea

Title: A Hope More Powerful than the Sea 

Author: Melissa Fleming 

Grade Level: High School 

    As I read this book, I cried. I cried because Doaa Al Zamel’s story is moving. I cried because her courage and strength inspired me. I also cried because of all the heartaches, violence and destruction that are highlighted in this book. As I read this book, I’m grateful for my comfortable life and ashamed that I make mountains out of my molehill problems. Those are the emotions that a good biography is supposed to evoke, Right? Well, if that’s the point of a biography than this one is one of the best! 

    This book is about a young lady named Doaa Al Zamel. Zamel is a devout Muslim girl who grew up in Syria. Her childhood was happy and normal until the country started a revolution. A revolution which by the by is still an ongoing war as I write this review. The revolution quickly turned the country into an awful battlefield. Zamel’s father decided that his family was going to leave Syria for safety reasons. They fled to Egypt.

    At first, life in Egypt was good. The people in Egypt liked Syrian people and they were able to find some of their own people. In Egypt, Zamel got a job and supported her family. However, the tide was turning in Egypt. A new president was elected and he did not like all the Syrian refugees that were pouring into Egypt. During this hard time, Bassem proposed to Doaa. She accepted. Together, they decided to flee to Europe in a smuggler’s boat. Can they survived the journey together?