A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park, is an interesting narrative read about two people from the Sudan, twenty years apart, whose experiences have a common thread, perseverance.  It’s the story of Nya in 2008, an 11 year old whose job is to get water for her family 8 hours a day, and Salva in 1985, who as an 11 year old boy was forced to run for his life from rebel soldiers, in the middle of the school day, with one thought, where is my family? Salva continues to walk to refugee camps in Ethopia and Kenya and as one of the Lost Boys, a new life is given to him in America. Nya will also get a chance at a new life, 20 years later, because of Salva’s perseverance.   Every reader can empathize with the separation anxiety Salva experienced of being displaced from your parents or family.  But they may see, for the first time, how something as simple as a water well could dramatically change a way of life.  Linda Sue Park creates characters with the ability to push ahead, one day at a time, regardless of their situation, showing the true determination of the human spirit.  A Long Walk To Water deserves its starred reviews and is recommended for grades 5 and up.