Lost Boy, Lost Girl

November 1, 2010

Gr 7-10-The tragic story of Sudan's Lost Boys and Lost Girs is told in simple language by two survivors. The authors explain that a civil war between Muslim Arabs in the north and Christian Africans in the south led to thousands of Sudanese being displaced from their homes. In 1987, when Dau was 13 and Akech was 6, war came to their village. Both traveled hundreds of miles to a UN refugee camp in Ethiopia. After a few years of safety, the refugees were forced to move again, back into Sudan and eventually to a new camp in Kenya. Through all those years, starvation, thirst, and disease plagued the Sudanese. Both Dau and Akech kept hope for the future by going to school and learning. Their story has a happy ending, with immigration to the United States and marriage. Teens who know little about Sudan and its problems will be drawn into this moving, inspirational story. More than just a memoir, it is a reflection on a lost lifestyle, with plenty of details about the beliefs and culture of the Dinka, the southern Sudanese people to which both Dau and Akech belong to. Ideal for classroom use, this book is also a heartbreaking but hopeful read.-Melissa Rabey, Frederick County Public Libraries, MD

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2010
Grades 7-12 Daus adult memoir, God Grew Tired of Us (2007), was made into an award-winning documentary film, but even YA collections that already have that title, as well as similar stories about the Lost Boys who fled civil war in Sudan, will want this spare riveting account, which includes a Lost Girl. In alternating narratives, John and Martha, who are both Christian Dinkas from Southern Sudan, describe wrenching separation from their families; witnessing mass slaughter; trekking through jungles, deserts, and bush; and reaching UN refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, where each lived for many years before arriving in the U.S., meeting, and marrying. As a young teen in the refugee camps, Martha fled an arranged marriage and waged a successful campaign to place more women in U.S. homes. A small section of color photos show scenes from refugee camps and traditional villages as well as John and Martha on their wedding day and with their children. An afterword and time line offer more background on the war that claimed more than two million lives.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2011
With Michael S. Sweeney and K. M. Kostyal. In this memoir, married couple John Bul Dau and Martha Arual Akech, who both grew up in peaceful settings, describe how their quiet days turned grim as civil war raged into southern Sudan. Escaping the war, they started new lives in the United States and continue to help those in need. Their story is personal and inspirational. Some photographs are included. Timeline.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)