Penny's Reviews and Chat

MARVELOUS MIDDLE GRADE MONDAY

A Long Walk to Water

by Linda Sue Park

 

I picked up Linda Sue Park’s “A Long Walk to Water,” and was completely captivated and blown away. It’s based on a true story of one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Salva, who fled Southern Sudan and walked to Ethiopia. The story is told in two parts. The first part takes place in 1985, when the Southern Sudanese rebels were fighting the government in the North. Salva and other young boys were in school when war reached them. They fled their country for refugee camps in Ethiopia, leaving their families behind. Many never saw their family again. Later, when the refugees were driven from Ethiopia, Salva led a group of boys and walked to the camp in Kenya.

The other part takes place in 2008. It’s about Nya, a young girl whose life is taken up with walking to fetch water all day, every day. As a girl, Nya doesn’t go to school. Her job day in and day out is to walk to the pond to fill her container and bring the water home. After her morning trip to the pond, Nya eats at home, and then turns around and walks back to the pond to fill her container again. When the pond dries up, the village moves to the Lake where the water has to be reached by digging.

This is a powerful, gritty story that grabs you and compels you to read to find out what happens to Salva and Nya as the story threads finally come together in the end. “A Long Walk to Water” is highly recommended for middle grade students, ages 10-12. This is truly a book that brings history alive in the classroom.

Information on author Linda Sue Park is at www.lindasuepark.com

Reviewed by:

Penelope Anne Cole
Award Winning Author of Magical Matthew and Magical Mea 
and Mágico Mateo (Spanish)

New:  Magical Mea Goes to School

For Halloween:  Ten Little Tricksters
Web:   http://www.penelopeannecole.com/ 

Tags:

A Long Walk to Water, Linda Sue Park, Salva, Nya, Sudan, the Lost Boys, refugees, Ethiopia, Kenya, war, water, struggle, drama, pain, separation.