Based on a True Story
by Linda Sue Park
A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours' walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya's in an astonishing and moving way.
"Starred Review. There have been several books about the lost boys of Sudan for adults, teens, and even for elementary-school readers. But Newbery Awardwinning Parks spare, immediate account, based on a true story, adds a stirring contemporary dimension...Teachers may want to point out the allusion to Nelson Mandelas A Long Walk to Freedom (1995) echoed in this moving books title." - Booklist
"Starred Review. [A] spare, hard-hitting novel delivers a memorable portrait of two children in Sudan." - Publishers Weekly
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Age range 12+. Linda Sue Park is the author of the Newbery Medal book A Single Shard, many other novels, several picture books, and most recently a book of poetry: Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems). She lives in Rochester, New York, with her family, and is now a devoted fan of the New York Mets. For more information visit www.lspark.com.
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