I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of me giving a review. I guess they are wanting more than, “Wow, just wow!” but that’s pretty much what I have to say. This book does a careful dance between heart-wrenching and uplifting and it does it flawlessly. You’ve no doubt heard the stories of the “Lost boys” of Sudan, but have you heard about the lost girls? The book is the autobiography of Rebecca Deng, who was one of the first group of unaccompanied refugee children to enter the U.S. after Sudan’s second civil war. The book begins with an almost idyllic description of her very early life in a small village. While they did not have much by western standards, she felt blessed and loved. That all changed when her village came under attack when she was just four years old. Her mother died in that attack. Later she lost more and more family members and ended up in a refugee camp.
Things were unbearably hard there, but it was also there that Rebecca grew in her Christian faith. Her story is a rollercoaster of pain and redemption, but it led to a life of helping others to overcome what she had experienced. This is the story of a real person who went through real tragedy but who came through it all and managed to see God at work. If you have ever wrestled with your faith or doubted whether or not one person can really change the world, this book is a must read. Five stars and I’d give it a sixth if I could.
AMOKArts 