A Lesson in Sudan, Africa

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, the author of A Single Shard, is an interesting perspective into the tragedies of war and famine in Sudan, Africa throughout the last quarter century. I have grown up hearing about the human rights offences that took place in Sudan and Ethiopia, but like many people I didn't understand the conflict. Park uses the true story of Salva Dut, a "Lost Boy" of the Sudan civil war in Africa since 1985, as the basis for the the plot of the book. She connects it to the fictional story of Nya, belonging to the rival Neur clan in Sudan, during 2008 and 2009. The reader follows Salva through his grueling tail of survival as he has to abandon his family in order to escape the battle that has engulfed his home village. The reader follows Salva's life through Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya, crossing deserts, eluding wild animals, avoiding being recruited for battle for either side, in an attempt to reach sanctuary in refugee camps that are almost as grueling as facing the war itself. Salva finally is adopted by an American family where his next life story begins. How can he give back to a country that has so little going for it? This is where the two stories come together.

I recommend this book to all my readers. It reminded me of how the book, Three Cup of Tea by Greg Mortenson, made me understand a little more about the social issues involving the countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. A Long Walk to Water reminds the reader that human rights atrocities in Africa are still a problem. Because there are not vested interests in oil in the region like the Middle East, Americans tend to turn their backs on this corner of Africa.

Can reading a novel like A Long Walk to Water make a person more credible when discussing civil rights or war in which our own country is involved? In other words, How does a story like this make you a smarter person?

Two Different Books, One Very Important Theme

Sometimes I come across a book that allows me to bridge the reading gap between popular adult fiction and the reading levels of my middle school students. I have a few students that have shown an interest in the the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I'm assuming they have already seen the movie and are curious when adults tell them that the book is so much better. It's not that they can't read the book, but in the course of a school quarter, it would consume too much of their time.

 A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg is the perfect compliment to The Help and it is written at a level many of my students can read and share. A Thousand Never Evers compares to the help in that it is also set in the sixties, but in Kuckachoo, Mississippi, instead of Jackson, Mississippi. Addie Ann Pickett and her family all work for white bosses on the other side of the tracks similar to Aibileen Clark and her friends. Addie eventually is made responsible for the care and upbringing of Ralphie, the son of Mrs. Tate.  Addie develops a mother like bond to Ralphie that complicates things as the plot turns for the worst.  In The Help, Aibileen knows all to well about how developing a relationship greater than that of the white parents can complicate things between the boss's children and their black housekeepers.


Addie learns first hand about the hatred of blacks and whites in Mississippi after her own brother disappears defending her against white bullies. She also gets pulled into the drama about the garden that has been left to the entire community by the late Mr. Adams. The white families take over the garden as their own by twisting the words of Mr. Adams will to their favor. The failior of the garden falls on the shoulders of Addie's Uncle Buck and it's up to Addie to find the courage to save her family from certain revenge of white supremacy and a corrupt white legal system.

I will recommend both books to my students.  They both offer an excellent view into life of southern African Americans during a time when segregation, white supremacy, and racial injustice was the black eye of our American history. In A Thousand Never Evers the mystery of Addie's brother's disappearance, Uncle Bump's trial, and her father's death combine with  racial tensions in a community that is showing signs that they might just be ready to cross the racial barriers of the deep south.

Introducing African Civil Rights Through Literature

Burn My Heart and Out of Bounds are two books by Beverley Naidoo that have recieved a lot of attention from the students in my class.  We have been introduced to text sets dealing with civil rights movements throughout history and around the world.  Both books introduced my students to the history of the battle of discrimination racial injustice in Africa.  Out of Bounds is made up of a series of stories told through the eyes of children growing up through Apartied in South Africa from 1948 to 2000. Burn My Heart is the story of two boys in Kenya, one African and one White.  Their friendship is forced to drastically change at the hands of racial hatrid grab both boys and test the trust they both thought was safe.  As the Mau Mau rebellion grows to involve the African workers of the white farm owners, the white government tries to stop the rebellion through intimidation and interrogation.

How does reading about civil rights in other time periods and other countries help readers reflect and understand the civil rights movement in our own country? Is it fair to compare these events to our own country?