Main Characters

Josef

Year journey started: 1939
Reason for escape: German Nazis arrived and brought harm to his family.
Character attributes: Tries to be responsible, looks up to his father.

Isabel

Year journey started: 1994
Reason for escape: Cuban government gave grace period allowing citizens to leave the country.
Character attributes: Caring, works hard to help others, selfless.

Mahmoud

Year journey started: 2015
Reason to escape: Syrian Civil War coflict reaches his home and destroys it.
Character attributes: Kind, emotional, tries to find solutions in the madness.

Main Character's families

Josef's Family

Josef's Father

• Was leader of the family.
• Taken to concentration camp, escapes, but leaves with poor mental state.
• Goes insane on ship to St. Louis, jumps off the boat.
• Taken to an asylum and seperated from his family, never seen again.

Josef's Mom

• Kind, cares about the family.
• Tries to help her husband, but to no avail.
• Meets the same fate as her son.

Ruth

• Josef's younger sister.
• Easily distressed by her father's insanity.
• Seperated from her brother and mother towards the end of the book, living her life seperated from them.

Isabel's Main Connections

Isabel's Dad

• Highly against Isabel risking anything.
• Actively represents what he believes is best.
• Often gets involved in arguments.

Isabel's Mom

• 8 months pregnant.
• Wishes to keep the family together.
• Gives birth to her healthy child.

Ivan (friend)

• Childhood friend of Isabel.
• Dies to a shark, does not finish journey.

Mahmoud's Family

Mahmoud's Dad

• Tries to lighten the mood through jokes.
• Jokes don't usually help.
• Trying his best to keep the family together.

Mahmoud's Mom

• Has a new baby, named Hana.
• Hana is given to people on a stable raft when they end up in the ocean.
• Slowly is driven into madness looking for her child, to the point of asking everyone she sees about the child and checking the identities of babies to see if it's her and take Hana back.
• She never finds her.

Waleed

• Mahmoud's brother.
• Likes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
• Stops responding or reacting when they leave the madness of their hometown.
• The war trauma shows signs quickly.