Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story

Written by Linda Sue Park

Narrated by David Baker and Cynthia Bishop

Audie Award Finalist, Children's Titles for Ages 8-12, 2014

In 1985 southern Sudan is ravaged by war. Rebels and government forces battle for control, with ordinary people...people like the boy, Salva Dut...caught in the middle. When Salva's village is attacked, he must embark on a harrowing journey that will propel him through horror and heartbreak, across a harsh desert, and into a strange new life.

Years later, in contemporary South Sudan, a girl named Nya must walk eight hours a day to fetch water. The walk is grueling, but there is unexpected hope. How these two stories intersect is told in this fascinating dual narrative, performed by David Baker and Cynthia Bishop, with the assistance of dialect coach James Achueil...who actually made the same journey across Africa when he was one of the "Lost Boys of the Sudan."

©2010 Linda Sue Park (P)2013 Full Cast Audio

• Language: English
• Publisher: Full Cast Audio
• Release date: Jan 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781936223299

Linda Sue Park

Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medal winner for A Single Shard and #1 New York Times bestseller for A Long Walk to Water, is the renowned author of many books for young readers, including picture books, poetry, and historical and contemporary fiction. Born in Illinois, Ms. Park has also lived in California, England, and Ireland. She now lives in Western New York. Learn more at lindasuepark.com.

Reviews for Long Walk to Water

[Jeanne Nichol · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What these people went through is more than sad. This story brought to life despair and hope.

[A. Mayoung · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An amazing story of perseverance and endurance. This story will stay with me forever.

[Sherry Hinder · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Makes one appreciate what so many in the world live through. Not only enlightening for adults but an excellent read for young adults.

[Angela Miller · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed the story very much. I would recommend this book.

[erika.d · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great story. It was emotional, sad, shocking, uplifting, inspiring and well written. It tells the story of one of Sudan's Lost Boys. We follow his story from age 11 to present day. There is another character as well that ties in nicely with the boy, Salva's story. The ending was a warming surprise. I am so glad I read this book. Couldn't put it down so I read it in one day. I highly recommend this title.

[salsabrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A powerful story for young readers about the triumph of dogged perseverence and never giving up. As horrifying as his experiences were, Salva's mantra was "one step at a time, one day at a time." Park doesn't shy away from the realities Salva faced--the murder of his uncle, soldiers forcing refugees into a crocodile-infested river, dead bodies--but neither does she linger on them or present them graphically. They are stated in spare terms with the rest left to the reader's imagination. The ending is a poignant fist-pump of accomplishment in Salva's story.

[KalieghS · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was so inspiring and makes me grateful for the world I live in. Salva went through so many hardships and never gave up which is just all in all just amazing!

[Diane Histand · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

this book is worth reading. well written for a young reader, but worth reading by older readers as well.

[Michael · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

very nice. Very touching

[laurensx · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Two stories are interwoven in this brilliant piece of literature. Based on a true story, Salva, a young Sudanese boy finds his day at school, life-changing. When war comes to his village, Salva is forced to flee school and away from his village. He walks away from his family and his country, never knowing their fate. Nya walks twice a day, to get water for her family. The trip going to get water is easy, however, the return trip is challenging and heavy. Linda Sue Park has once again, written a beautiful piece of literature that brings us face to face with the real world.

[sgrame_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A story of 2 children in Sudan- a boy named Salvo in the 1980's and a girl named Nya in 2008 and both have a long walk to water. Salvo's story starts when he is in school and his village is attacked. He's told to run for his life and not go back to his village or he may be captured and forced into the fight. This is his story as part of the Lost Boys roaming hundreds of miles before finding safety in a refugee camp. Nya has a 2 hour trek each day to a pond for water that she has to complete twice each day. However, their stories end on hopeful notes, proving perseverance can pay off. A harsh but true story. Grades 5-8

[henrog-315853 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the true story of Salva Dut. The civil war in Sudan reached Salva's village in 1985 when he was 11 years old. He was forced to flee and became separated from his family. All alone, he must walk with other refugees through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya to finally end up many years later in the U.S. The story details his walk through the desert and many dangers and disappointments that happened during his journey. He is one of the Lost Boys of the Sudan. At the same time, the book highlights the life of 11 year old Nya in 2008. How these two lives come together is awesome. I was amazed to learn the way people live and the difficulties they must endure in my lifetime. Exellent book.

[marshapetry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Darn, my review got deleted! Anyway, I'll try to remember... : good stories from Africa... If you like human interest stories this should be enjoyable. Not really my thing but, even so, I enjoyed this book. Excellent narrator.

[edutechteacher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An amazing and powerful story. My tissue box is nearby.

[addunn3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A boy describes his experience walking through central Africa in search of safety.

[djlunchlady91404 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Many times when you have 2 stories going back and forth through a book it is quite difficult to tell the difference between the two but in this book that is not the case Nya and Salva's stories are fit together perfectly. The story primarily takes place in Sudan from the mid 80's to the early 00's following the life of Salva, A lost boy from Sudan. A long walk to water is a story of strength,hope and perseverance. I truly enjoyed it and could see myself recommending this book to others.

[kimkimpton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great book for middle school- maybe even older elementary students if they are mature. There is no objectionable language and the violence is not at all graphic. Yet, it is a heartwarming true story that comes together nicely in the end. Warning...you will want to donate money to Water for South Sudan when you are done reading this.

[mcorbink · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing story of a young boy, one of the "Lost Boys" during the time of the Sudanese 2nd Civil War. It is the children's version of a book I read about the same topic. Awe inspiring, paralleled by the second story running through the book of the water problem in the Sudan and how young children had to walk miles a day to fetch a container of water, in this case, twice a day. I read this book in a morning.

[mckaori · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A compelling story line that opens your eyes to immensity of the challenges faced by those who become refugees and should motivate us to change things. How do you change things, the story line covers that too.

[lissabeth21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What an incredibly important book!!! Read it! Read it now! It's less than 120 pages... you can read it in a day, but it may change your life forever!

[acargile-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is the 2017-2018 Global Read Aloud and it’s the Pentathlon novel for this year.The story alternates between 2008 and the 1980s - 2000s. Salva is at school in 1985 when the war in Sudan reaches his town. The teacher instructs the students to run to the bush; if they try to return to their homes, they will not survive the war. Salva runs. After a few days he does find an uncle; otherwise, he is alone for decades. This is the story of the children of Sudan who lost their families and spent years in camps as they struggled to know what happened to their families and to stay alive. The other story takes place in 2008. This story takes place in Sudan, showing what has happened in this country since Salva’s experience. Nya spends all day walking to water and bringing water back home. She literally just walks back and forth to get muddy water. This water is what they drink because there are no other sources. Because the water is tainted, it’s not unusual for people to get sick and die because medicine and medical help is not readily available.This novel is an important novel because it’s a true depiction of a real person and a real country. To know what goes on around the world makes each of us more aware of our own lucky lives. It’s a short book and well worth your time.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating and heartbreaking. This should be considered a must-read.

[sabrar-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this novel there are two stories happening at the same time. The first story takes place in southern Sudan in 2008-2009 and is about an eleven years old girl named Nya who takes a long to water to get water for her family. The main story takes place from 1985-2007 and is about a boy named Salva Dut. One day when Salva was at school a war brock lose and there was shooting that was happening in the village. Salva teachers told all the students to run to the bush and don't look back. Salve did as he was told but also wanted to find his family. He got pushed with a big group of a people and just kept running. That night the groups stays the nigh in an old barn but when he wakes up everyone is gone. They had left without Salva because he was a child and they didn't want him to slow them down. Salva meets a older women that he calls Auntie but soon another group arrives and she make arrangements for him to travel with that group. Along the way more people join the groups and after being with the group for a couple of weeks Salva realized his uncle Jewiir was there. Salva was so delighted to see a familiar face and his uncle made him feel safe because he was in the army. His uncle is now the group leader and is trying to get everyone to Ethiopia where there is a refugee camp. They had to cross the Nile river which took days and they had to make their own boats. The hardest part of the journey was walking across the Akobo desert. Salva had a very hard time staying positive but his uncle gave him gaols such as walking to a bush or a rock, that way the journey didn't seem as long. The group finally stopped and rested but they were attacked and uncle was killed. Salve didn't know what to do but for some reason he felt stronger. The group didn't really help Salva at all, they would make him bag for food. Eventually they made it to the refugee camp where Salva stayed for 6 years. One day soldiers invaded the camp and started pushing everyone into the Gilo river where they were forced to swim across. That river was known for the crocodiles and many people were either eaten by them or they drowned. Salva made it across Salva finds himself the leaders of over a thousand boys and he leads them to another refugee camp in Kenya. He spends the next five years in that camp but then hears that some people are getting picked to go to America. Salva gets picks and get a new family that lives in Rochester New York. Salva eventually starts college and studies business but one day he gets an email saying his father is in the hospital. He eventually goes back to see his father that he hasn't seen in thirteen years. After seeing his father it makes him what to do something about the stuff that is happening on Sudan. Salva works on his idea for helping them for years but he finally accomplishes it. He even gets to got to the town where he put a well in and that is where he met Nya.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At first I didn't really like the two different stories going on, but as the book neared the end, I really appreciated how the two stories come together and I loved the message from Salva at the end.

[heatherlinc · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was okay, but not a riveting read. While Nya's story only covered a couple of years, Salva's spanned over twenty and, being such a short novel, his story felt rushed and shallow. I liked how the two characters' paths intersected at the end, but for me the book lacked emotional depth and the story fell flat. Overall, disappointing.

[yourotherleft_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Park tells, side by side, the stories of two young characters, Salva, a young boy in 1980s Southern Sudan, forced to run for his life when the war against the northern government comes to his village, and Nya, a young girl in nearly present day Sudan whose life is defined by her endless walks to and from a distant pond to supply her family with precious and hard to come by water. When gunshots ring out near Salva's school, his teacher rushes the kids out the door insisting that they must not return to their villages and potential slaughter but flee into the bush alone. What follows is Salva's perilous journey among strangers across dangerous terrain to the safety of an Ethiopian refugee camp. Nya's village struggles to find fresh water that won't sicken people, but it's becoming more and more difficult, until strangers arrive in her village with an unexpected gift.A Long Walk to Water is a short book, but a weighty one based on the true story of Salva Dut's terrifying childhood in his war-torn native country. It digs into the harsh realities of war in Sudan caused by both rebellion against the northern government that wants to force its Islamic beliefs on the whole nation and the dangerous animosity between the rival tribes of the south. Salva's story is both heartbreaking and often hopeless, but his refusal to give up and his coming of age under impossible circumstances are ultimately inspirational. Nya's story seems almost out of place, at first, highlighting the practical implications of living in an area where struggling to survive is forced to be the top priority, but the dual stories come together to offer a touching and pitch perfect ending.

[kamgeb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I very fast read. A very basic book about the Lost Boys and the story behind them. None of the characters were developed very well. But it was interesting plot.

[lucybrown_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My teammate is using this book in her social studies class this year. Since I am the Language Arts teacher for the team, she asked me to read it so that I might give her some tips on how to approach it. And so I have done.

Park's novel presents one young man's moving odyssey from war torn Sudan to the USA, and then back again. As one of the Lost Boys, Salva made the harrowing journey through southern Sudan to Ethiopia then later to Kenya. His story is told along side of a ficitional one about a young girl named Nya. Nya is a member of a tribe that is frequently at war with the Dinka, Salva's group over water rights. Nya spends most of her day walking to a pond for water. Their seemingly parallel stories address the tragedies of war, drought, and disease in Sudan in a manner that is accessible to younger readers.

[auj_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Short book, once I started reading it I did not put it down until finished. Amazing true story! Makes me thankful for the many blessings I have that I take for granted.

[engpunk77 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Required reading for all 7th graders starting next year, according to the Common Core Curriculum, and I'm thrilled that this was the choice. Not a phenomenal book, not rich in language and imagery, but the story is amazing and true. I love the author's chosen format, which you'll appreciate by the time you finish the novel. What I take from this reading experience is a frightful image that gives me an understanding of one risk of life on the Nile, a harrowing image of a real historical incident in Ethiopia that astounded me (something I can't believe happened and that I had not already known of it), the ability to identify Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia on the map, a feeling of helplessness about the refugee camp situation, and a hope that all painful experiences can lead to some "good."