Book Review:

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

Heather Llerena

TE 865: Teacher and Learning K-12 Social Studies

Mungur

August 16, 2021

 A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park is set in Africa in the country of Sudan.

It simultaneously explores the true stories of two young adolescents both living in Sudan

during two separate time periods. In 2008, Nya and her family struggle to find water.

Instead of going to school, she spends her days walking to get water for her family, and

deals with sickness and uncertainty that comes from unsanitary and unreliable water

sources. In 1985, Salva wanders the war-torn country with other boys searching for

family and safety. He is a refugee unwanted by the world; a Lost Boy. The trials, loss,

and fear that both Nya and Salva face is heartbreaking. However, the book ends

optimistically when the two stories overlap. A grown-up and successful Salva (who was

lucky enough to get a refugee visa to the United States) brings a well to Nya’s village,

granting her access to better health and education.

Rorty states in The Ethics of Reading: A Traveler’s Guide, “...what we read

affects what we become” (p. 85). The type of information, perspectives, and images

students are exposed to in and out of the classroom have a huge impact in shaping

their beliefs, therefore it is important to critically examine novels before using them with

students to ensure that they present accurate and equitable messages. In critically

analyzing Park’s A Long Walk to Water, two key categories were examined: the author's

purpose, and the potential for this book to create opportunities for deep and meaningful

Social Studies learning to occur.

It is important to critically explore the author and their purpose, particularly when

stories are based on true people or true events. In retellings, an author’s own biases,

misconceptions, or creative liberties can potentially skew other people’s “true stories”.

For example, Tara J. Yosso has researched the depiction of people of color in films
about urban high schools, and found “With unrelenting repetition, each film contributes

to the myth that increasing populations of Latinas/os and Blacks in public schools lead

to a rise of violence and crime, demonizing students and their communities for dramatic

effect” (2020, p. 6). When a story is told from an outsider's perspective, the story itself

runs the risk of becoming distorted. Therefore, it is important to understand why Park

chose to write Salva and Nya’s stories.

Upon learning more about the author, I believe that her connection to Salva,

along with her own personal connections to immigrants and mult-cultural learning, make

her a reliable and well-intentioned storyteller. According to her website, Linda Sue Park,

is the daughter of first-generation American immigrants from Korea, and she “...spends

most of her time on equity/inclusion work for We Need Diverse Books…” (Biography).

Parks' purpose in sharing Salva and Nya’s stories is to promote diversity in young adult

novels. In addition, Park is family friends with the real Salva Dut. She is not simply

retelling an interesting story she researched; she has a personal connection and

investment in getting the story right. This background knowledge about the author helps

establish confidence that the author’s purpose while writing A Long Walk to Water was

to accurately inform young readers about the struggles the people of Sudan have

endured.

The next area to critically examine is the book's potential to create meaningful

learning centered around Social Studies concepts. A Long Walk to Water covers many

of the National Council for Social Studies C3 Framework criteria. This book would most

notably cover criteria in geography and history that students should have by the end of

8th grade (Appendix A). In addition, it also addresses Michigan Grade Level
Expectation standards for 6th and 7th grade Social Studies (Appendix B). In total, at

least 14 Social Studies standards could be covered while reading and teaching A Long

Walk to Water.

This book does an excellent job addressing standards in several broad

categories. First, it covers many standards that focus on the relationship between

humans and the environment. The lack of water in Sudan, caused in part due to

increasing desertification from climate change, resulted in conflict, poverty, illness, and

cultural changes. The second category involves migration. Environmental instability

caused conflict that forced thousands of boys like Salva to become refugees. The

movement of refugees around the world helps students understand how countries and

governments respond to these crises, and the grim reality of forced migration. Finally,

this book covers standards that address skills such as cause and effect, analyzing

situations from multiple perspectives, and analyzing contemporary global issues.

However, a potential issue that this book presents to teachers is that while it

covers a wide variety of topics, the coverage is mainly at surface level. This book could

be used to cover the importance of water and other natural resources, political policies

surrounding refugees, the dangers of climate change, poverty, equal access to

resources, and the importance of education (to name a few). However, just because a

book could cover standards to topics in meaningful ways, doesn’t necessarily mean it

will. To cover these topics in highly effective ways, teachers will have to be very

intentional to make connections to larger themes, asking critical questions, and

requiring inquiry.
 The lesson plan in Appendix C gives an example of how A Long Walk to Water

can be used to help students explore the importance and impact that clean water has.

Throughout the unit, students can learn not only about the water crisis in Africa, but also

the Flint water crisis and California droughts. Finally, students can explore why there is

inequitable access to clean water, how climate change has increased the problem, and

how this is affecting humans around the world.

A Long Walk to Water is well worth reading in a middle school classroom. In my

own experience the reading level is low enough to allow most students in a middle level

classroom to successfully engage it, but the writing sparks enough suspense and high

interest to keep everyone (even high readers) eager for more. In addition, it raises

compelling topics that naturally lead students to inquiry-based learning and questions in

a variety of social studies related content. Finally, A Long Walk to Water helps students

see the world, and their own lives, from a new perspective that helps build empathy and

a desire to make the world a better and more equitable place.

 Works Cited

Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://lindasuepark.com/biography/

Hmhbooks. (2010, August 31). Retrieved July 31, 2021, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkxkisRUmMM

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), The College, Career, and Civic Life
(C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the
Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (Silver Spring, MD:
NCSS, 2013).

Park, L. S. (2010). A Long Walk to Water. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Rorty, A. O. (1997). The Ethics Of Reading: A Travelers Guide. Educational Theory,

47(1), 85-89. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.1997.00085.x

Yosso, Tara J. (2020). Critical Race Media Literacy for These Urgent Times.
International Journal of Multicultural Education, 22(2), 5-11.
 Appendix A -

National Council for Social Studies C3 Framework Criteria

● D2.Geo.10.6-8. Analyze the ways in which cultural and environmental characteristics vary among

various regions of the world.

● D2.Geo.8.6-8. Analyze how relationships between humans and environments extend or contract

spatial patterns of settlement and movement.

● D2.Geo.9.6-8. Evaluate the influences of long-term human-induced environmental change on

spatial patterns of conflict and cooperation.

● D2.Geo.6.6-8. Explain how the physical and human characteristics of places and regions are

connected to human identities and cultures.

● D2.His.14.6-8. Explain multiple causes and effects of events and developments in the past.
 Appendix B -

Michigan Grade Level Expectation Standards for 6th and 7th grade Social Studies

● 6 – C4.3.2 Explain the challenges to governments to address global issues, and the international

cooperation needed to do so.

● 6 – G6.1.2 Investigate a contemporary global issue by applying the skills of geographic inquiry.

● 6 – G5.2.1 Analyze the effects that a change in the physical environment could have on human

activities and the actions people would be required to make (or would choose to make) in

response to the change.

● 6 – G5.1.3 Analyze ways in which human-induced changes in the physical environment in one

place can cause changes in other places.

● 6 – G4.4.2 Evaluate examples of cooperation and conflict within the region under study from

different perspectives.

● 6 – G4.3.3 Explain the patterns, causes, and consequences of major human migrations.

● 7 – G4.4.1 Identify factors that contribute to conflict and cooperation between and among cultural

groups.

● 7 – G5.1.2 Explain how different technologies were used in the era being studied.

● 7 – G5.1.3 Explain how people defined and used natural resources in the era being studied.
 Appendix C – Lesson Plan

Topic: Introduction to Theme: Importance of Water

Learning Students will analyze their personal water use, how life would be
Objective: different without water, and the history of the water crisis in
Sudan to form broad, inquiry based questions about water.

Purpose This lesson is completed before students start reading A Long

Walk to Water. It establishes background knowledge about
Sudan, big guiding questions, and builds personal connections
to student’s water use.

Time: One, 90-minute class period.

Introduction: ● YouTube Video: Water Changes Everything

● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCHhwxvQqxg&t=35
(5 minutes) s
● This video explains how life is improved with water, and
gets students thinking about the topic for today.

Activity #1 Part 1: When do you use water?

(20-30 ● With your table (groups of 4) answer the following

minutes) question: When have you, or will you, use water today?
Come up with a list of as many things as you can.
● We will share in round robin format. Each table group will
share one thing, and then another group will share, etc.
Personal
until we have run out of possible answers. If another
Water Use
group takes something on your list, please cross it off so
Analysis
we do not share duplicates. We need active sharers and
listeners to make this effective.
 Part 2: What if you didn’t have water?

● Now that we have a list of all the different ways we use

water, I am going to assign each group 1-2 items of this
list, and I want you to brainstorm and be prepared to
answer the following question about your item: What
would happen if you couldn’t get or use water in this
way? How would that change our lives?
○ Example: If on the list we have “we use water to
flush the toilet”, I would have a group brainstorm
what the effect would be if we didn’t have water to
flush a toilet. How would that change our lives?
● Starting at the top of the list, as a class we will have each
group share out the effect of not having water for the item
they discussed. I will prompt groups as needed if they are
having trouble coming up with any effect, or a more
complex effect.

Activity #2 ● After brainstorming the major roles that water plays in our
lives, and discussing how different life would be if we
(20-30 didn’t have water to do so many things, as a class we will
minutes) begin to explore the water crisis in Sudan.
● I will lead into this activity by explaining that for many
people in the world, the life without easy access to clean
Water in water that we just described is their everyday life.
Sudan

Part 1: Geography of Sudan:

● First I will pull up a physical map of Sudan, and ask

students to make a prediction: what do they think the
climate is like there based on where it is located?
● Students will turn and talk to their shoulder partner or
table group, and then I will take volunteers to share out.
○ *If needed, students will be prompted to examine
things like location to equator, what life in a desert
climate looks like, location to major bodies of
water, etc.*
 Part 2: Article Analysis

● I will ask students to get out or borrow (from the materials

section of the classroom) a highlighter while I pass out a
paper copy of the following article.
● Water in Crisis - Sudan by Alexandra Barton
● https://thewaterproject.org/water-crisis/water-in-crisis-sud
an
● Students will get the option to read the article alone, or
follow along while I read it outloud as a class. Either way,
while the article is being read students are given the
following task – write down questions you have about the
water crisis and life in Sudan. They can highlight
information that they are wondering about, and write their
questions in the margin. I will model this once for
students in the first paragraph?

Activity #3 ● After reading the article, learning about the water crisis in
Sudan, and writing down things they are wondering
(10-15 about, we will make a class list of questions we still have
minutes) regarding water or Sudan.
● I am hoping that big questions, like the ones below, will
be shared by students, and will guide them with their
Asking Big thoughts as needed.
Questions ○ Why is there no water in Sudan?
○ What effect does not having water have on the
people who live there?
○ Why don’t people just move somewhere else?
● The questions students share and agree to as a class will
be hung on a piece of chart paper and write down
possible answers as we read the book.
 WATER IN CRISIS - SUDAN
Alexandra Barton, Guest Writer)

Water Crisis

Spotlight Content

Sudan faces ecological crises like water scarcity and desertification.

Rural Sudanese are displaced often by changing landscapes and a

lack of agricultural production. The demand for water increases, but

its availability to the country's inhabitants continually remains low.

Access to water is needed, as much of Sudan's country has become

neglected.

The livelihood of Sudan depends on its excess use of its water

sources. Eighty percent of the country works in agriculture, which

accounts for 97% of its water use. Most farms are rural and fed by

rainwater. They provide for a family or a small community, making

them the majority means of living for the Sudanese. Yet, their

farming practices are hurting the environment. Much of Sudan's land

is cultivated by mechanized farming . This intense agricultural

system has reduced arable soil, and according the United Nations
Environment Programme, has caused desertification to spread. The

irrigation used to feed the mechanized farms and intense cultivation

by rural Sudanese are causal to the arid environment diffusing over

Sudan.

Women and children must devote the most time in their days to

gather water from distant sources. They risk their health and safety

by bearing frequent trips to a well remote from their home.

Additionally, the women lose productivity from other domestic

duties. In Sudan about two percent of water is available for domestic

use (In the United States, water for domestic use accounts for 13% of

total supply).

Most of Sudan's currently accessible underground water is shared

with surrounding countries . Sudan utilizes part of the NileRiver

Basin, but its use is not regulated or maintained by the government.

This unrestrained use of shared water, mostly for irrigation and

energy, creates tension with neighboring countries like Egypt and

Ethiopia. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) uses the

term water stress to refer to a situation where political or economic

problems occur because of a lack of water. According to the Water

Systems Analysis Group at the University of New Hampshire, about a

quarter of Africa's population suffers from this problem. Sudan has a

critical case of water stress.

The Sudanese are at high risks for contracting waterborne diseases.

In 2006 there were 476 deaths caused by diarrhoea in just five

months, with Cholera-causing bacterium present in stool samples.

Similarly, the Darfur region had 3753 reported cases of hepatitis E

from May to August 2004. Contaminated drinking water may also

cause Dracunculiasis, or Guinea Worm Disease. It can rapidly affect a

water supply for a village by one infected person, harming the total

area. Three out of five cases of Guinea Worm Disease come from

Sudan. Open water sources, such as standing ponds, are common

modes of transferring diseases in villages.

Environmental changes have left the Sudanese to struggle for their

own survival. The country strains to provide clean, accessible water

to all regions.

The Water Project has twenty missions to build wells in Sudan that

are either in development or have been completed. This well was

built for St. Bartholomew's Orphanage, where it now provides clean

water for 130 orphans in Southern Sudan. More plans will offer

accessible water for thousands of Sudanese.