This book describes the civil war of Sudan. It shows the effects it has on its people from school to church to medication and so on. This is great for Young Adults to help them understand a culture half way around the world from them. ( )

This book shows the strength of the human spirit in face of great adversity. During the civil war of Sudan thousands of people became refugees and were forced to leave there homes. Some of the children ended up in camps for displaced persons in what is now South Sudan. Although they lived in mud huts and were on always on the brink of starvation, they tried their best to continue their education. The teachers would conduct class out in the open and would often use sticks to draw in the dirt to teach lessons. There was never enough materials to go around and they had to make do with what they had. Despite these dire circumstances they never gave up hope. They continued to fight relentlessly for the future and for justice and equality.
Though this book is 20 years dated, there are still many people living in these conditions around the world with the same interminable spirit. It makes us realize how lucky so many of us are and puts our daily struggles into perspective. More importantly, it inspire us to continue to fight the good fight. ( )

Well this was educational...and depressing.

This book is a little dated from a 21st century perspective. In the context of this book, the civil war in Sudan is never-ending and the refugee crisis will only intensify. In 2011, the civil war ended and Sudan was split into two countries: North and South Sudan. I do not know how conditions on the ground have changed as a result of this. In my experience, issues with African history rarely get resolved just by redrawing the borders or ending immediate conflicts. I should do research to see how things have changed. ( )

Ms. Walgren takes the reader to a children's refugee camp in South Sudan during the civil war. Although it is 20 years out of date, and South Sudan is now an independent country, many of the problems explored in this book are still ongoing in the region. Using brilliant photographs and authoritative writing, Ms. Walgren describes the daily lives of children in the camp: their schools, their homes, their constant struggle for food and water, and their moments of sport and play. Both the content and the language of the book are suited to older students (7th grade or up, I would guess). No background information is assumed, and Ms. Walgren provides a brief, but effective, history of the conflict in the region. The tone of the book is fairly serious, even when lighter moments are discussed, such as playing soccer or swimming under a waterfall; it's almost as if the severity of the living situation has leeched into the pages of the book: life and death struggles are not trivial or easy, but they don't have to be dour and despondent, either; rather, there is a gravity to the text that colors the pages with pathos and the human experience. ( )

This is precisely the kind of picture book I can see using in my high school classrooms. It tells the story of a community and school, Natinga, where thousands of boys were resettled during the Sudanese civil war. As an aside - yes, the book is now concerning a struggle which technically ended in the mid 2000's, but the area is still wracked with conflict, and the themes addressed are relevant to many such struggles. This book is key to discussions of current global events, wherein we exist surrounded by a media climate which generally seems to hold the tragedies of the Northern Hemisphere as more important than those in the global South. This is unfortunate, seeing as many of these conflicts have been brought on by, or at least exacerbated by historical imperialism. It is largely structural racism and a condescending western attitude toward Africa which keeps so much of the suffering and trials of people like the students at Natinga from getting the attention that they should.
This work puts a very human face to a specific group of children and adults who survived and thrived to the best of their abilities in a terrible situation. They often went days without food, and what international aid they did receive was largely restricted to grain. Medical supplies and school supplies were exceedingly scarce, yet the students showed a vibrancy and passion for education which is largely lacking in our system of compulsory education. When the author first arrived at the camp the children ran up to her begging for paper and writing implements. The book is a study in perseverance, community, and the power of education. The author, being a photographer, included a rich array of beautiful photographs showing the day to day life of the people living and working in Natinga. These photos paint a stark yet hopeful image of the human spirit in the face of adversity. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I plan to pick up a copy to include in my classroom library. ( )