Nya's Long Walk

In this picture book companion to the bestseller A Long Walk to Water, a young South Sudanese girl goes on a journey that requires determination, persistence, and compassion.

Young Nya takes little sister Akeer along on the two-hour walk to fetch water for the family. But Akeer becomes too ill to walk, and Nya faces the impossible: her sister and the full water vessel together are too heavy to carry. As she struggles, she discovers that if she manages to take one step, then another, she can reach home and Mama’s care. Bold, impressionistic paintings by Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brian Pinkney evoke the dry, barren landscape and the tenderness between the two sisters. An afterword discusses the process of providing clean water in South Sudan to reduce waterborne illness.

Linda Sue Park is the author of  bestseller A Long Walk to Water, set in South Sudan, and the Newbery Medal book A Single Shard.  She lives in Rochester, New York, with her family. Visit her online at lspark.com and on Twitter @LindaSuePark.  Brian Pinkney is a celebrated picture-book illustrator who has won a Caldecott Honor, the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and three Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honors. He lives with his wife and frequent collaborator, author Andrea Davis Pinkney, and their family in Brooklyn, New York.