Salva Dut

When the novel opens, Salva Dut is an eleven-year-old boy who lives in the small village of Loun-Ariik in Southern Sudan. Salva and his family are part of the Dinka tribe. Salva is a smart, happy boy who has just started to attend school. One day as he is daydreaming in class gunshots erupt outside the schoolhouse and Salva runs into the bush to escape the fighting between the government forces and the rebels. Salva walks with a group of other people who are fleeing the fighting, moving further and further away from his home and his family. Eventually the group is joined by his Uncle Jewiir, who becomes the group's leader. At one point while walking through the Akobo Desert Salva begins to lose hope, and Uncle Jewiir teaches him a lesson about setting and accomplishing small, manageable goals and never giving up which will stay...