A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

A Long Walk to Water

Based on a True Story

Linda Sue Park

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · October 4, 2011

Cherished by millions of readers, this #1 New York Times bestselling novel is a powerful tale of perseverance and hope.

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Who it’s for
Alternating stories bring two children’s different struggles into a moving account of endurance and hope.
Themes
Perseverance and hope, Refugee displacement, Access to water
Genres
Historical Africa, Immigration & Moving, Survival Stories

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About this book

Cherished by millions of readers, this #1 New York Times bestselling novel is a powerful tale of perseverance and hope. Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park interweaves the stories of two Sudanese children who overcome mortal dangers to improve their lives and the lives of others. 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.

Continue reading

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. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way. Includes an afterword by author Linda Sue Park and the real-life Salva Dut, on whom the novel is based, and who went on to found Water for South Sudan.

Two Lives, Interwoven

Alternating stories bring two children’s different struggles into a moving account of endurance and hope.

Come here for

  • Stories of endurance, hope, and lives shaped by hard journeys.

Expect

  • Alternating sections follow two children in Sudan across different years.

Where it sits

Historical Africa81%
Survival Stories73%
Immigration & Moving62%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Survival Stories
  • Historical Africa
  • Wars & Military History
  • Stories Set in Africa
Show all 5 publisher categories
  • Immigration & Moving
Authors
Linda Sue Park
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
October 4, 2011
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Perseverance and hope · Refugee displacement · Access to water
Reading lane
Survival Stories