A Long Walk to Water

I love reading about historical events through historical fiction. Linda Sue Park's latest novel A Long Walk to Water is a great read.

Each chapter begins with the story of Nya, a young girl in southern Sudan in 2008, who spends hours each day traveling from her village to the nearest water source- a muddy pond two hours walk away. Then the historical aspect is revealed through what happened to Sudan in the past.

As war spreads throughout the country of Sudan in the early 1980's, people to flee their native areas now in devastation, resulting in millions of people on the move.

During this chaotic time, children who were separated from their families spent the majority of their adolescence walking across the country in search of safety in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. In A Long Walk to Water, Park dramatizes the real life story of one such boy, Salva Dut. 

Salva was eleven years old and attending school when the soldiers came. He is separated from his family, and the focus of his early travels remains on his growing fear of whether his family members have survived and rising emotions of how he will ever find them again.

The story follows Salva over two decades, with some segments of time written about at great length and others briefly summarized. As Salva runs through the bush, readers feel the pounding of his heart.  Salva's and Nya's paths cross in a most interesting way.