Maw Books

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I’m excited today to recommend to you another book about the Lost Boys, Brothers in Hope:  The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan by Mary Williams, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.  Mary Williams is a name that I have heard often when reading about the Lost Boys of Sudan as she is the founder of the The Lost Boys Foundation, a organization dedicated to raising awareness about these amazing young men and organizes resources to help them.

If you are not aware of who the Lost Boys are,  let  me set it up for you as I have three more book reviews to quickly follow this one on the same subject.  During the mid-1980’s Sudan had a period of renewed fighting in its long-running civil war.  More than two million people have died.  Many of the children, particularly boys, were left orphaned and approximately thirty thousand Sudanese children, many under ten-years-old, were forced to march across Sudan to Ethiopia then Kenya in search of refuge.  They faced death through war, hyenas, lions, crocodiles, lack of water and starvation.

Their stories are heartbreaking and a testament to the will to survive.  Those boys have now become young men and many have sought refuge in foreign countries including the United States.  Two fantastic documentaries that I would recommend about the refugee experience is God Grew Tired of Us and Lost Boys of Sudan, both excellent insights into the hell that these boys went through and their readjustment to living in the United States.

I loved Mary’s words in her author’s note and wanted to preface my thoughts about the book with her thoughts:

Before meeting any of the Lost Boys, I assumed they would be hardened and embittered by their experiences: the loss of their parents, near starvation, and exposure to violence, persecution, and deprivation.  Imagine my surprise when the first group of ten young men walked into my office with huge smiles on their faces and excellent manners.  They spoke English well and were quick to laugh.  It was obvious they felt blessed to be given the opportunity to come to the United States.

When I asked one young man how they had endured such an arduous journey, he simply smiled and said, “It was the grace of God.”  The Lost Boys’ unrelenting faith in God, their loyalty to one another, and their desire to acquire an education to better themselves and their country is a powerful testament to the strength of the human spirit.

This book is based on the true story of the Lost Boys as told to me by the young men who lived it.

Brothers in Hope tells the story of eight-year-old Garang as he is orphaned by war, joins with other lost boys, walks to Ethiopia,lives in a refugee camp and then forced back to Sudan and then to Kenya.  Along the way, he takes care of Chuti, a boy younger than him and leads a group of  35 boys.  Garang lives in the refugee camps until he becomes a young man of twenty-one, and he is invited to the United States.  Although apprehensive about such a huge move, Garang remembers the words of his father “Your heart and mind are strong.  There is nothing you cannot do.”  Garang looks to the future and knows that although the road will be rough, he is no longer afraid.

A wonderful book with amazing illustrations by R. Gregory Christie in the African tradition.  I would highly recommend this picture book to introduce young readers to the stories of The Lost Boys.

In addition to the two documentaries mentioned earlier, I’d also recommend What is the What by Dave Eggers (which I hear is being made into a movie), War Child by Emmanuel Jal,  They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Alphonsion Deng, Benson Deng,  Benjamin Ajak with  Judy A. Bernstein for adult readers and another picture book My Name is Sangoel by Karen Lynn  Williams and Khadra Mohammed; all of which I can personally recommend and hope to review this week as well.

Links of interest:  To learn more about the Lost Boys,visit the publishers classroom guide, and book talk with author Mary Williams.
Genre:  Picture book, ages 9-12.
Publisher:  Lee and Low Books.  May 30, 2005.
Hardcover, 40 pages.  ISBN 1584302321
Brothers in Hope is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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