SOLVED. about a boy getting away from a dangerous country alone [s]

[Ameera]

okay so either these are two separate books or the beginning and end of one book but i can’t remember. i read it sometime between 2010-12 definitely and it was likely a new book because i read it for our school library to categorise it as suitable or not. i think there was someone named tariq in it or the author but i'm not too sure.

1. boy lives in a war-torn country? it’s definitely a dangerous place. his father/parents send him off with almost all the money they have and he ends up in turkey i think? he lives in this motel place and plays chess really well and the owner and him have a deal so other chess players bet on the game and he always wins and then he gets a cut of the bet money or gets to stay at the place for free.

2. this boy gets sent to live with his cousin/brother/relative in england but when he gets there the guy has a girlfriend and is not the person he thought he was being sent to and the relative sends him to some boarding school. i don’t think he ever sees his parents again. the author had a similar story in that he also never saw his parents again.

[Tab]

maybe, Dawn and Dusk ?

Was this a historical fiction?
For children, teens, or adults?
Anything about the cover?

[Ameera]

More like fiction based on a true story, not historical at least late 20th century but I'm also feeling like maybe 21st century. It was for YA, can't remember about the cover. Author was likely a man, not white, he had left his home country to come to England. Either a character or the author might have had the name Tariq/Tarek or a version of that name

[Diana]

Could it be Chess Story? Granted, it's not a new book, but there was a new translation in 2006.

[Ameera]

No, the boy is fleeing from a Middle Eastern country to either Turkey (and if part 1 and 2 are both part of the same book then he ends up in England)

[Ameera]

okay so I remember more, he was trying to get his papers to migrate to England while in Turkey (I'm pretty sure it's Turkey or like the Turkish quarter of another country?) and he sees the man in charge of immigration it might be like the Ambassador for England and he serves the boy hot chocolate and it's the first time he's had it

[Kris]

These books have a similar theme, but don't match all your points:
- Hinterland by Caroline Brothers
- In the Sea There are Crocodiles: Based on the True Story of Enaiatollah Akbari by Fabio Geda
- On Two Feet and Wings by Abbas Kazerooni

[Ameera]

you've solved it!!! it's 'on two feet and wings'. point number two was clearly a different book and that was the one who's author never returned to his home country but i've been looking for book 1 for so long thanks so much xxx

[Kris]

That's great news. Glad we could help. :)