Walking
Home
- Age Range: 10 and up
- Grade Level: 5 and up
- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday Canada; 1St Edition edition (September 23, 2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385681577
- ISBN-13: 978-0385681575
Eric
Walters has written over 90 books for children, many of them award
winning titles. I have read most of them. But his latest book,
Walking Home, did something none of his other books ever had: it made
me cry at the end. I found it to be touching, interesting, heart
warming and a well written story.
Walking
Home is the story of a young brother and sister who become orphaned
in a troubled, violent time and region of Kenya. The two decide to walk to the
region where their mother grew up, in hopes of finding relatives who
will take them in. Rather than be separated by government officials
who will place them in different homes, they walk over 200 KM,
through Nairobi, through villages and deserted stretches.
Eric
Walters did his research for this book. To the extreme.
Not
only has he build an orphanage in Kenya, and continues to support it
financially as well be involved in many day to day operational
decisions. He also took a group of children and walked the entire track
described in his book. Putting his own feet in the dust of African
roads, eating oranges from roadside stalls and hoping to find water
from wells, he was able to make this a story that takes the reader right along. It introduces us to Kenyan customs and beliefs. It shows the landscape and the fabric of African life.
The margins of the book have symbols throughout. These symbols seamlessly combine the paper pages (or the e-book) with additional information online. Videos, interviews, maps and other details all add information to the story.
A
portion of the cost of this book will be donated, by the publisher to
Creation of Hope, Walters' orphanage in Kenya.
This
title can be complemented in the classroom by Eric Walters' African picture
books: The Matatu, My Name is Blessing and Hope Springs. The latter two stories come directly from the orphanage and are based on the true stories of children living there. Both are heartwarming tales, complemented by back pages with information.
http://www.ericwalters.net
http://ericwalterswalkinghome.com
