Walk Toward the Rising Sun
From Child Soldier to Ambassador of Peace
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
The amazing autobiography of a young Sudanese boy who went from a child soldier and struggling refugee to international peace activist and Hollywood actor.
Sudan, 1980s: Ger Duany knew what he wanted out of life--make his family proud, play with his brothers and sisters, maybe get an education like his brother Oder suggested, and become a soldier for his people when he's old enough. But then his village was attacked by the North Sudanese military, death kept taking his loved ones away, and being a child soldier was not what he thought it would be. Amid heartbreak, death, and violence, can this lost boy find his way to safety?
America, 1990s: After boarding a flight without his family to seek refuge in a foreign country, Ger worked tirelessly to adjust to a new life. It wasn't long before he was thrown into the spotlight, as people discovered his talents for basketball, modeling, and acting. Yet the spotlight wasn't the only thing following him, as he battled the effects of PTSD, resisted the siren call of the excesses of fame, and endured a new kind of racism in America. Amid fame, trauma, and the memory of home, can this lost boy find himself?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This highly personal memoir reveals Duany's childhood as a child soldier in South Sudan and his subsequent path as a refugee, actor, model, and peace activist for the region. The book's opening at a village meeting roots the narrative in Dueny's Nuer culture. Duany contextualizes political factors while describing his family's life in and out of villages and a refugee camp in Ethiopia, until he becomes a soldier in the second civil war in 1992, when he was 13. After enduring war and violence, Duany befriends a minister who helps him leave for America, via a harrowing journey through Kenya. The final third of the book focuses on Duany's experience in the U.S., where he faces PTSD, culture shock, and the expectations of American adolescent life. Dramatically rendered scenes of remembered dialogue, such as a political debate between Duany's powerful soldier father and uncle, offer a sense of immediacy. Throughout, potent details illustrate Duany's experiences, such as how he felt when his school uniform got dirty while hiding from AK-47 fire in the woods. While the narrative's pacing is somewhat uneven, this is a powerful story of survival. Ages 12 up.
