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“Southern Sudanese Deng’s remarkable life story is one of loss and survival…The combined experience and talents of Hutton and Deng result in crisp, clear writing that is eminently readable. Deng’s voice rings authentically through the telling, her resilient spirit eclipsing the grueling trials she was forced to endure. Though Deng’s grandmother once told her to never look back, readers will thank Deng for disobeying her and sharing her moving, powerful story.”
Booklist, Starred Review

Don’t Look Back: A Memoir of War, Survival, and My Journey from Sudan to America

Written by Achut Deng and Keely Hutton
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

After a deadly attack in South Sudan left six-year-old Achut Deng without a family, she lived in refugee camps for ten years, until a refugee relocation program gave her the opportunity to move to the United States. When asked why she should be given a chance to leave the camp, Achut simply told the interviewer: I want life.

But the chance at starting a new life in a new country came with a different set of challenges. Some of them equally deadly. Taught by the strong women in her life not to look back, Achut kept moving forward, overcoming one obstacle after another, facing each day with hope and faith in her future. Yet, just as Achut began to think of the US as her home, a tie to her old life resurfaced, and for the first time, she had no choice but to remember her past.

Primary ISBN: 9780374389727
Publication Date: October 2022
Available As: Hardcover, Audiobook, eBook
Memoir, Young Adult, Age 12 or older

Community Represented:

Themes: , , , , , , , , ,

Setting: South Sudan (Wernyol), United States (Houston, Texas)

Character’s New Arrival/New American Status: Refugee

Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience

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