A Long Walk to Water

The middle-grade novel A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park follows the life of one of the Lost Boys from South Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War. Based on a true story, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published the bestselling novel in 2010, and Park later wrote a companion picture book, Nya’s Long Walk. The story follows Salva Dut, based on a family friend of Park’s, who is chased from his village and family by militants at age 11. He becomes a “Lost Boy” of Sudan and completes many dangerous treks to refugee camps before being adopted into an American family. Salva’s narrative parallels that of Nya, an 11-year-old Nuer girl who walks eight hours a day to retrieve life-saving water for her family. This guide references the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2010 Scribd version of the novel.

Content Warning: This study guide and the source text contain depictions of war and violence.

Plot Summary

The book opens with Salva daydreaming during Arabic class. Jolted back to reality by gunfire, Salva obeys his teachers, who direct the children not to run back home to their villages but to run for the bush instead.