Review: A Long Walk To Water

From Goodreads:  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.

Whenever I read books like this, my heart just swells in gratitude for the plentiful, good life that I have.  I have never had to walk all day to fetch the water my family will depend on to live.  I have never had to run for my life or live in a refugee camp.  I have not been separated from my family nor have I come close to death by dehydration, starvation or animal attack.


This book will remind you how much you have.  This book will make you want to do more with what you have.


A Long Walk to Water is written with middle grade readers in mind.  While the story follows the life of Salva through the war in Sudan and touches on many heart wrenching and tragic events, it does not become bogged down with depressing details.  Hope prevails.  I loved the ending.


I'm going to have my kids read this book.  Not only is this a good introduction to the conflict in Africa, it has a powerful message.  As an adult, this was a fast read.  It only took me a little while to finish it.  I kind of wish this was an adult book, with a few more details and more like a biography or autobiography.   


Salva Dut is an amazing man doing amazing things.  In real life.  At the end of the book is a message from Salva.  He says, "To young people, I would like to say:  Stay calm when things are hard and not going right with you.  You will get through it when you persevere instead of quitting.  Quitting leads to much less happiness in life than perseverance and hope."


Take a minute or two to read this book.  You won't be sorry.  :)


And check out this website.  It tells all about Salva Dut and his efforts to change lives in Sudan with water.  http://www.waterforsouthsudan.org