Walk Toward the Rising Sun

October 19, 2020
This highly personal memoir reveals Duany’s childhood as a child soldier in South Sudan and his subsequent path as a refugee, actor, model, and peace activist for the region. The book’s opening at a village meeting roots the narrative in Dueny’s Nuer culture. Duany contextualizes political factors while describing his family’s life in and out of villages and a refugee camp in Ethiopia, until he becomes a soldier in the second civil war in 1992, when he was 13. After enduring war and violence, Duany befriends a minister who helps him leave for America, via a harrowing journey through Kenya. The final third of the book focuses on Duany’s experience in the U.S., where he faces PTSD, culture shock, and the expectations of American adolescent life. Dramatically rendered scenes of remembered dialogue, such as a political debate between Duany’s powerful soldier father and uncle, offer a sense of immediacy. Throughout, potent details illustrate Duany’s experiences, such as how he felt when his school uniform got dirty while hiding from AK-47 fire in the woods. While the narrative’s pacing is somewhat uneven, this is a powerful story of survival. Ages 12–up.