A Long Walk to Water
SynopsisPlot
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.
Story
About this book
A Long Walk to Water tells two parallel stories set in Sudan, separated by more than two decades. In 2008, a girl named Nya walks two hours each way to collect water from a pond, making the trip twice every day. In 1985, a boy named Salva is eleven years old when civil war reaches his village, forcing him away from his family. The two narratives alternate section by section, gradually revealing how they connect.
Salva's story follows his years as one of the displaced Dinka children who crossed enormous distances on foot through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya, searching for safety. These young refugees, often called the lost boys of Sudan, faced hunger, exhaustion, and constant danger over months and years of walking. The novel is based on the real life of Salva Dut, who eventually reached the United States in 1996 and later started a project to build water wells in Sudan.
Linda Sue Park, a Newbery Medal recipient, structures the book around the daily reality of water. Nya's repetitive journey to the pond and Salva's long displacement across borders both center on survival at its most basic level. The book is short and direct, written for younger readers but grounded in documented events.
