Linda Sue Park has taken the childhood experiences of Salva Dut and crafted his courageous feat of fleeing on foot from the war in Southern Sudan in the mid-eighties, having lost his family, into a book that reads more like a novel than a biography.  At the same time, she jumps to 2008 to recount the story of Nya, another Sudanese child who must walk miles every day to fetch water for her family.

Park captivates her audience with a story about perseverance and persistence.  She guides us along Salva’s journey across the Nile River and through the Akobo Desert into Ethiopia, crossing the Gilo River twice – the second time swimming for his life to avoid being shot by soldiers or eaten by crocodiles, then back through part of the Abobo Desert and towards Kakuma in Kenya.  Salva does finally bring himself to safety as he arrives at Ifo refugee camp, Kenya, in 1992, seven years after that fateful day in school when his teacher ordered the class to, “Go! All of you, now!”

The vivid writing of the author will almost allow you to feel Salva’s physical and emotional pain, while releasing endorphins as he triumphs over every endured adversity, including extreme thirst and hunger, and ends up in a position to help Sudanese people 24 years later.  Beginning both the story of Salva and the one of Nya more than 20 years apart, Park brings it all together at the end in 2009, when we learn how our past can help shape the future of fellow humans.

An absolute gem to be shared with the entire family!