A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
#1 New York Times Bestseller

A Long Walk to Water is based on the true story of Salva Dut, one of 3,800 Sudanese "Lost Boys" who came to the United States beginning in the mid-1990s. 

Separated from his family by war and forced to travel on foot through hundreds of miles of hostile territory, Salva survives starvation, animal attacks, and disease, and ultimately leads a group of about 1,500 boys to safety in Kenya. Relocated to upstate New York, Salva learns English and continues on to college. Eventually, he returns to his home region in southern Sudan to establish a foundation that installs deep-water wells in remote villages in dire need of clean water. This poignant story of Salva's life is told side-by-side with the story of Nya, a young girl who lives in one of those villages.

A Long Walk to Water is available in most public libraries. Purchase anywhere books are sold.

Visit Linda Sue Park's website for more information about A Long Walk to Water.

View classroom resources based on the book here.

Watch Linda Sue Park’s TEDx talk— Can A Children’s Book Save The World?

Nya’s Long Walk: A Step at a Time is the latest book from Linda Sue Park, author of A Long Walk to Water

In this picture book companion to A Long Walk to Water, a young South Sudanese girl goes on a journey that requires determination, persistence, and compassion.

Young Nya takes little sister Akeer along on the two-hour walk to fetch water for the family. But Akeer becomes too ill to walk, and Nya faces the impossible: her sister and the full water vessel together are too heavy to carry. As she struggles, she discovers that if she manages to take one step, then another, she can reach home and Mama's care.

Purchase anywhere books are sold.

Visit Linda Sue Park's website for more information about Nya’s Long Walk.

Just Add Water is the true story of Salva Dut's journey from Sudan to the founding of Water for South Sudan

Suitable for third- to sixth-grade reading levels. View an excerpt of the book here.

Just Add Water recounts Salva Dut’s journey as an 11-year-old boy fleeing his home to escape a civil war, his struggle for survival in the harsh landscape of Africa, and his experiences in crowded refugee camps.

Salva's journey seemingly ends in America until he discovers that his father is alive but ill, and that life back in South Sudan is extremely difficult due to the lack of clean water. Salva returns to his homeland to reunite with his father and transform the lives of his people with the simple gift of water.

To purchase Just Add Water