Salva and Nya have difficult paths to walk in life. Salva’s journey, based on a true story, begins in 1985 with an explosion*. The boy’s small village in Sudan goes into chaos* while the 11-year-old is in school, and the teacher tells the children to run away.

    Salva leaves his family and all that is familiar and begins to walk. Sometimes he walks alone and sometimes there are others. They are walking toward a refugee camp* in Ethiopia, toward perceived safety. However, the camp provides only temporary* shelter from the violent political storm. In 1991-’92, thousands are killed as they try to cross a crocodile-infested river when they are forced out of the country. Salva survives and gets 1200 boys to safety in Kenya.

    Nya’s life in 2008 takes place around water. She spends eight hours a day walking to and from a pond. In the dry season, her family must leave their home and move to the dry lake bed where they dig in the mud until water finally trickles out. Nya’s story frames Salva’s journey from Sudan to Ethiopia to Rochester, New York, and then, back to Sudan. Salva returns home to help his people and builds a well, making fresh water available for the community and freeing Nya to go to school.

    Both story lines are spare, offering only pertinent* details. In the case of Salva, little is written about the six years in the camp. This minimalism streamlines the plot, providing a clarity that could have easily become mired in depressing* details. The book title reminds of Nelson Mandela’s “A Long Walk to Freedom.” (SD-Agencies)