A thousand miles across the sea

Karim has managed to escape from his war-torn hometown of Homs. Initially, he and his family make it to Egypt, where he tries to reach Italy across the Mediterranean with his uncle. In the chaos, he loses his uncle, misses the smuggler's boat, and ends up in prison. During his next attempt to flee by boat, he nearly drowns in a storm. It is nothing short of a miracle that months later he is allowed to attend school in Constance. Although Karim misses his parents and finds it difficult to make friends, he begins to settle in. However, a classmate accuses him of being involved in a nasty bullying incident.