Beyond the Sand and Sea, Ty McCormick
Beyond the Sand and Sea, Ty McCormick
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Beyond the Sand and Sea
One Family's Quest for a Country to Call Home

Author: Ty McCormick

Narrator: Will Damron

Unabridged: 7 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/30/2021


Synopsis

From Ty McCormick, winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, an epic and timeless story of a family in search of safety, security, and a place to call home.

When Asad Hussein was growing up in the world’s largest refugee camp, nearly every aspect of life revolved around getting to America—a distant land where anything was possible. Thousands of displaced families like his were whisked away to the United States in the mid-2000s, leaving the dusty encampment in northeastern Kenya for new lives in suburban America. When Asad was nine, his older sister Maryan was resettled in Arizona, but Asad, his parents, and his other siblings were left behind. In the years they waited to join her, Asad found refuge in dog-eared novels donated by American charities, many of them written by immigrants who had come to the United States from poor and war-torn countries. Maryan nourished his dreams of someday writing such novels, but it would be another fourteen years before he set foot in America.

The story of Asad, Maryan, and their family’s escape from Dadaab refugee camp is one of perseverance in the face of overwhelming adversity. It is also a story of happenstance, of long odds and impossibly good luck, and of uncommon generosity. In a world where too many young men are forced to make dangerous sea crossings in search of work, are recruited into extremist groups, and die at the hands of brutal security forces, Asad not only made it to the United States to join Maryan, but won a scholarship to study literature at Princeton—the first person born in Dadaab ever admitted to the prestigious university.

Beyond the Sand and Sea is an extraordinary and inspiring book for anyone searching for pinpricks of light in the darkness. Meticulously reported over three years, it reveals the strength of a family of Somali refugees who never lost faith in America—and exposes the broken refugee resettlement system that kept that family trapped for more than two decades and has turned millions into permanent exiles.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

About Ty McCormick

TY McCORMICK is a senior editor at Foreign Affairs and a former foreign correspondent who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and National Geographic. From 2015 to 2018, he was based in Nairobi, Kenya, as Africa editor of Foreign Policy magazine, where he led a team of writers that won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for a series on African migration. He has reported from more than a dozen countries in Africa and the Middle East.

About Will Damron

Will Damron is an actor, author, and two-time Audie Award–winning narrator. He has performed over 800 audiobooks across all genres, and is the recipient of three SOVAS Voice Arts Awards and numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards. Will is known for his smooth and evocative narration—often imbued with gravitas and realistic tension—as well as the wide range of characters and accents he can convincingly portray. He loves that he is able to connect with audiences around the world through his performances, and share in the joy of a true emotional journey with them.He and his wife, fellow narrator January LaVoy, live in Atlanta with their dog, Sir Toby Belch.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jill on December 04, 2020

Asad Hussein's story of rising out of the lawlessness, squalor, and hopelessness of the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya is a true story of optimism and perseverance. Through a multitude of setbacks that would put anyone off their goals, and Trump's ban on Muslims migrating to the U.S., Asad never stopp......more

Goodreads review by Chelsea on September 23, 2021

This book had me feeling joyous, despondent, grateful, and enraged. Reading about the struggles and sacrifices Asad’s family endured as refugees was deeply powerful. You think you “get it” when you envision what the circumstances must be like to flee your home, but nothing prepared me for witnessing......more

Goodreads review by Angela on August 23, 2021

The book really made me question how much fortitude I have - to be knocked down so many times and yet continue to believe and maintain hope, like Asad and his family do, is extraordinary. "So much was out of his hands that I found myself repeating the same refrain again and again: All you can do is y......more

Goodreads review by Katie on March 27, 2022

The incredible and heartbreaking story of a Somali man named Assad who was born in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. As always I am amazed at the sheer courage, bravery, and perseverance refugees exhibit to seek asylum in a new country and overcome a world that is determined to make them fail. Many......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on April 07, 2023

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