Don't Look Back: A Memoir of War, Survival, and My Journey from Sudan to America

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

I want life. For ten years, Achut Deng surrived at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya after her family was ripped apart by the Second Sudanese Civil War. But Achut wanted to do more than merely survive. She wanted to live. The twenty-two-year civil war essentially orphaned over 20,000 children and drove them from their villages in southern Sudan. Some of these children walked over a thousand miles, through dangerous war zones and across unforgiving deserts. They are often referred to as The Lost Boys. But there were girls, too. Achut Deng was one of them. This is her story. It's a story of unimaginable hardship and selfless bravery, of tormenting physical pain and amazing emotional resilience, of unbreakable bonds of friendship and family. It's a story about what happens when your dream comes true, only to give way to a new nightmare. It's about how hard you will fight to save your own life.

Reviews

South Dakota Teen Choice Book Award Winner
Crystal Kite Award Winner
A YALSA Teens' Top 25 Selection
An ILA Young Adult Nonfiction Honor Book
A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People

"Southern Sudanese Deng's remarkable life story is one of loss and survival . . . 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." --Booklist, starred review

"This is a gripping account of an extraordinary journey. A powerful read for this time of unprecedented refugee movement across the globe." --Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

Achut Deng was born in South Sudan and came to America as a refugee when she was sixteen years old. She is now an American citizen and works in human resources at a meat-packing plant in South Dakota, where she also resides. She is the mother of three sons. Keely Hutton is a novelist, educational journalist, and former teacher. She is the recipient of the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop scholarship at Chautauqua. She worked closely with Ugandan child soldier Ricky Richard Anywar to tell his story in her first novel, Soldier Boy. When she's not writing, Keely enjoys playing piano, reading, and planning Disney trips with her family. keelyhutton.com