Lost Girl Found

Gr 8 Up—This poignant and gripping story follows Poni, a young girl growing up in a Sudanese village. The emotional tale depicts the challenges of Poni's everyday life before the war. Against all odds, she must find a way to stay in school, deflect any young boy's attention, and fight for her life to survive malaria. But then the war comes, and everything changes. After her entire village is wiped out following an airstrike and her family is presumed dead, she must flee Sudan with a group of refugees to the safety of a refugee camp far away. Many die along the way, but Poni survives the long journey. Once she gets there, she discovers the horrors going on at the refugee camp and must escape. After she's free, a nun in Nairobi offers her shelter, the continuing education the teen has been longing for, and, ultimately, help getting to America, the land of opportunity. This book does an excellent job of evoking strong emotions from readers through its graphic depictions of life in war-torn Africa. Many are familiar with the Lost Boys of Sudan, but these authors set out to tell the stories of the Lost Girls of Sudan, and have succeeded with flying colors. This short, quickly paced narrative will stay with readers for the rest of their lives.—Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT