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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What did I think?
I think my life is very, very easy and I should never complain about anything, ever.
Captivated by Salva's story.
I think my life is very, very easy and I should never complain about anything, ever.
Captivated by Salva's story.
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
I liked almost everything about this book; I just wish there was more of it. It's based on the true story of Salva Dut, his experience as a Sudanese refugee, and his mission to give back to the place he came from. It's interspersed with a present-day fictionalized story of a Sudanese girl whose village receives a well. (If the connection to Salva is supposed to be a surprise, I guess I won't spoil it here.) Because that part wasn't based on a specific person, it was pretty sparse, with only a few lines sometimes before jumping back into Salva's story, which made it feel unbalanced at times. Salva's story itself did a lot of time jumps ("six years later"), and I would have liked to have heard more about his experiences during those times, since the book as a whole was pretty short. I'm not sure what the target age level is — the language is simplified in a way that makes me think it's aimed more at children, but there are also descriptions of people's rotting corpses, so... not sure. Anyway, if you don't know a lot about the Second Sudanese Civil War and the Lost Boys of Sudan, this is a good introduction, and it's also a good (if brief) explanation of the importance of organizations that build wells in communities without other access to clean water.
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A gentle way for children to learn about war-torn Sudan, but also human resilience and kindness in the face of tragedy.
Re-read, but I wanted to follow along with middle schooler’s required reading. The audiobook is well done too. It is amazing how people survive horrors and choose not to be victims the rest of their life. Instead they are passionate about making the world a better place. I love inspiring true stories like this.