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. 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.
Don't Look Back
A Memoir of War, Survival, and My Journey from Sudan to America
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 11, 2022 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780374389710
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780374389710
- File size: 4817 KB
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 910
- Text Difficulty: 4-5
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Reviews
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Kirkus
August 1, 2022
A refugee who survived the Second Sudanese Civil War tells her story. Co-authors Hutton and Deng open with historical and political context for the brutal civil war that wracked Sudan from 1983 to 2005 before recounting Deng's harrowing tale. This compelling first-person narrative moves swiftly through short and often suspenseful chapters that chronicle Deng's life from 1988 through 2010, mostly focusing on the horrors she endured between November 1991, when she was 6 and fled a rebel soldiers' attack on her village, through her August 1992 arrival at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya after an arduous 1,000-mile trek. Deng grew up at the camp, enduring ongoing deprivation and loss but also receiving some education and making deep friendships. At age 16 she resettled in Texas in a situation that brought its own challenges. Woven throughout are themes of unresolved grief (she does not know if her parents are alive), her Christian faith (where is God in all the atrocities she has witnessed?), patriarchy (she must cede to older male relatives' wishes), and hope (modeled for her by loving adults). Deng is now a mother who has built a life in the U.S., working in human relations in a South Dakota meatpacking plant. This is a gripping account of an extraordinary journey. A powerful read for this time of unprecedented refugee movement across the globe. (authors' note, family tree, Deng's letter to readers) (Memoir. 12-18)COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Booklist
Starred review from October 15, 2022
Grades 7-12 *Starred Review* Southern Sudanese Deng's remarkable life story is one of loss and survival. It begins when her father is wounded in Sudan's never-ending civil war and her mother leaves to help nurse him. Their village is then attacked by rebels. When six-year-old Deng and her beloved grandmother attempt to flee, they are captured by the rebels, who murder her grandmother, thus leaving Deng alone in the world. Mercifully, a woman named Adual, a former neighbor and friend of her mother, finds the girl and becomes her surrogate mother. Together, they are incarcerated, escape, and embark upon an impossibly difficult, two-month walk to the Kenyan refugee camp Kakuma. Tragically, Adual dies at the camp, but somehow Deng--now 11--weathers this new loss as well. After nine years of grief and pain, during which she endures illness and sexual abuse, Deng is selected to go to America. The combined experience and talents of Hutton and Deng result in crisp, clear writing that is eminently readable. Deng's voice rings authentically through the telling, her resilient spirit eclipsing the grueling trials she was forced to endure. Though Deng's grandmother once told her to never look back, readers will thank Deng for disobeying her and sharing her moving, powerful story.COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Formats
- Kindle Book
- OverDrive Read
- EPUB ebook
Languages
- English
Levels
- Lexile® Measure:910
- Text Difficulty:4-5
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