I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park Also by this author: A Crown of Wishes
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on 2010-11-15
Genres: Action & Adventure, Africa, People & Places, Social Issues, Survival Stories, Young Adult
Pages: 128
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy 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.
Living in America, I’m not too focused on the problems the rest of the world faces. I mean, sure I went through a philanthropist phase in college, where I was like we should really do something! The world needs to change! Think of the starving children! Now, starving children hardly enter my mind, I’m focused on the problems we face here at home. I mean, I don’t play the suffering game, where this group’s problems are way worse than that group’s problems, so group B should maybe pipe down because group A has it way way worse. Naw, son.
Anyways, A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park actually made me think about limited water resources and the Sudan. I literally haven’t thought all that much about the Sudan since my junior year of college when I saw The Devil Came On Horseback. Kids, life in places that aren’t America sort of sucks. I mean, you don’t just wake up in the morning, let the shower run until it turns hot and then hop in. OH no. You actually have to walk places to get water, and then walk the water all the way back. Then, there’s all these war threats. And one day you come home from school to find out your whole family has vanished.
A Long Walk To Water is told in alternating stories. In 1985 we have male character Salva, who is son of a prosperous farmer. Salva is having a grand old time at school, then HOLY CRAP war breaks out. So, he peaces out of school, goes to find his family. They aren’t there, so Salva just starts walking. Then in 2008, the story alternates over to Nya. She lives in a village with no water. Every day she has to walk pretty much all day to get a bucket of water and bring it back.
Well, the two characters cross paths and I won’t tell you how. Because that would ruin the surprise. What I will say is that A Long Walk To Water is a solid read that will make you think about the world outside of your self, also it’s only like 128 pages, so if you have some time before your next oil change or doctor’s appointment, I totally recommend this book.
Disclosure: Received for review via netgalley.
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Purchase A Long Walk To Water here.
Also read as part of the PoC Challenge.
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It sounds like a great book!
Sounds like a good book! I’ll have to pick it up some time.
I used to be way more socially aware too, and way more of a philanthropist. I actually like donated money to causes and wanted to go help all the struggling countries in the world. Somewhere along the way I just kind of stopped caring… I miss that part of me. But I’m too lazy to care… what a crap American I am…