4.19 AVERAGE


This was another one from one of my nephews. I really enjoyed it. I liked the two stories told together on an important topic.

Wow. What a book to transform thinking. Based on a true story of one of the Lost Boys from Sudan. He walked 18 months from Ethiopia to Kenya after being kicked out of a refugee camp. Then his story ties to the story of a girl who spends her day collecting water in a village in South Sudan. Well written, honest but accessible for 11+ year olds.
informative inspiring fast-paced
adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A very well rounded good story. Written very well to keep the reader engaged.

My daughter gave me the book to read. She had read it at school, liked it, and thought I would too. I did like it, very much.

It had a lot of heart and makes you realize how grateful most of us can be. 
challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Sad. Amazing. Goosebumps.
challenging emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Very powerful. A book about empathy and the power of the human spirit.

Follows the real life story of a boy during the Sudan wars, his struggles to get to safety, without his family, losing friends along the way. He helped get over 1000 boys to safety when his first refugee camp closed. He was chosen to move to America when he was over 20 years old. When he got there, he started learning more English. Eventually he finds his father and goes to see him and finds out his mother is safe too. He wants to help so he does a lot of research and fundraising back in America on how to help his people.

In the present, we follow a little girl who walks for over 8 hours a day (2 trips) to get water for her family. Eventually, men come to her village to build a tap for her village. They find clean water and make a tap and build a school. Eventually, she finds out that the man in charge is a man from a rival tribe. She goes to talk to him and we find out that he is the boy from the "past" story. I think I knew when she talked about how he spoke with the men (coax them, joke with them and only sometimes was he angry) because that's how he spoke with the boys when he was trying to get them to the new refugee camp.
emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated