A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story by Linda Sue Park

Rating:
Characters: 18/20
Plot: 16/20
Originality: 18/20
Writing: 18/20
Recommendation: 18/20
Overall: 88/100 or B
Source: Publisher
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.
This story is based on The Lost Boys that traveled from Sudan into Ethopia, and lastly into Kenya. The story is based on Salva's life and I found it so heartbreaking. The horrors that are experinced will break your heart. I also liked that you saw Nya's battle with finding water and also the lack of resources in Africa and the efforts to help people with. The main probelm that I found with this book was the length, and I felt like more could have been elaborated. Park created a stunning protrait of what happened in Sudanese and how there is still a constant struggle there. It was an educational, but interesting read.