Book Review - A Long Walk to Water

[Silvana Mandeville]

Title: A Long Walk to Water
Author: Linda Sue Park
Summary of story: 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.

Good and bad points: The story really touched my heart. It is a highly recommended book to read, and gave us a great message. The author described it very well so that we can get to feel the characters' feelings very well. It was sad when Salva had to run away from home during the war. Grouping with many older people to get away from the war, luckily he met his uncle on the way. But it was bad when his uncle was shot. Salva is a stronger boy who holds too much on his uncle's words. Actually his words can be motivation for us to keep going forward to our goal. Just a little step again, again and again until we step into our goal. A step at a time.