Don't Look Back
A Memoir of War, Survival, and My Journey From Sudan to America
Square Fish · Print & ebook · October 8, 2024
In this propulsive memoir from Achut Deng and Keely Hutton, inspired by a harrowing New York Times article, Don't Look Back tells a powerful story showing both the ugliness and the beauty of humanity, and the power of not giving up.
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- Who it’s for
- A memoir of survival and migration, holding hardship and hope in the same clear gaze.
- Themes
- Refugee displacement, Survival and perseverance, Hope amid adversity
- Pacing
- Fast
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In this propulsive memoir from Achut Deng and Keely Hutton, inspired by a harrowing New York Times article, Don't Look Back tells a powerful story showing both the ugliness and the beauty of humanity, and the power of not giving up. I want life. After a deadly attack in South Sudan left six-year-old Achut Deng without a family, she lived in refugee camps for ten years, until a refugee relocation program gave her the opportunity to move to the United States.
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When asked why she should be given a chance to leave the camp, Achut simply told the interviewer: I want life. But the chance at starting a new life in a new country came with a different set of challenges. Some of them equally deadly. Taught by the strong women in her life not to look back, Achut kept moving forward, overcoming one obstacle after another, facing each day with hope and faith in her future. Yet, just as Achut began to think of the US as her home, a tie to her old life resurfaced, and for the first time, she had no choice but to remember her past.
Hardship and Hope
A memoir of survival and migration, holding hardship and hope in the same clear gaze.
Come here for
- A first-person view of displacement and starting over
Expect
- Hardship and hope held together, without smoothing either away
Where it sits
| Immigration for Teens | 71% |
|---|---|
| Africa for Teens | 36% |
| Biographies | 27% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Cultural Heritage Lives
- Africa for Teens
- Immigration for Teens
- Authors
- Achut Deng, Keely Hutton
- Publisher
- Square Fish
- Published
- October 8, 2024
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Refugee displacement · Survival and perseverance · Hope amid adversity
- Reading lane
- Cultural Heritage Lives