North to Paradise

🗺 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑 🗺

Thank you Tlcdiversity Tlcbooktours Amazon Publishing for this gifted copy and having me on this tour.

Could you imagine hiking across Europe beginning at the age of 12!?! It is honestly beyond my comprehension, so I know I’m going to be glued to the pages of this memoir that I’m sure is full of hardship, friendships, and inspiration in North to Paradise.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘢–𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.

Ousman Umar is a shaman’s son born in a small village in Ghana. Though his mother died giving birth, he spent a contented childhood working the fields, setting traps in the jungle, and living off the land. Still, as strange and wondrous flying machines crisscrossed the skies overhead, Ousman dreamed of a different life. And so, when he was only twelve years old, he left his village and began what would be a five-year journey to Europe.

Every step of the way, as he traveled across the Sahara desert, through the daunting metropolises of Accra, Tripoli, Benghazi, and Casablanca, and over the Mediterranean Sea aboard a packed migrant dinghy, Ousman was handed off like merchandise by a loose network of smugglers and in the constant, foreboding company of “sinkers”: other migrants who found themselves penniless and alone on their way north, unable to continue onward or return home.

But on a path rife with violence, exploitation, and racism, Ousman also encountered friendship, generosity, and hope. North to Paradise is a visceral true story about the stark realities of life along the most dangerous migrant route across Africa; it is also a portrait of extraordinary resilience in the face of unimaginable challenges, the beauty of kindness in strangers, and the power of giving back.

💬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡?