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How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
With this memoir, author Uwiringiyimana tells the story of her near-death experience at the hands of a Democratic Republic of Congo rebel who pointed a gun to her head. For whatever reason, the rebel didn't pull the trigger, but Uwiringiyimana's mother and six-year-old sister were murdered. She escaped, became part of a refugee program, and landed in New York, where even though she felt a great divide between herself and her American peers, she found healing from her trauma through art and social activism. Uwiringiyimana's “ability to summon the chaos and terror is extraordinary … [she] has emerged as a powerful spokesperson for the plight of the dispossessed” (BL).
Review from School Library Journal Starred:
The greatest storytellers connect with readers through universal truths, and Uwiringiyimana tells her own profound story with clarity and honesty. After a heart-pounding cliff-hanger opening, Uwiringiyimana goes back in time to revisit her childhood in Uvira, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although occasionally interrupted by bouts of war and subsequent migration, her childhood was rich and fulfilling. However, everything changed during a stay at a refugee camp. The camp at Gatumba was attacked by the Forces for National Liberation, a militant rebel group—a deadly event that would forever alter Uwiringiyimana and her family. The resulting narrative is a powerful look at the family's move to the United States, the challenges of adjusting to a different culture, Uwiringiyimana's painful recognition of her trauma from the massacre, and, finally, the healing she experienced as she took ownership of her emotional needs. Throughout, readers will be able to relate to Uwiringiyimana's adolescent struggles of fitting in and her relationship with her parents as a new adult. The title is a critical piece of literature, contributing to the larger refugee narrative in a way that is complex and nuanced but still accessible for a YA audience.
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