How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child, by Sandra Uwiringiyimana with Abigail Pesta

Opening with the pivotal and devastating night of the Gatumba massacre, Uwiringiyimana brings the reader into the perilous moment of having her own life threatened at gunpoint and the tragic murder of her little sister, Deborah.  But this memoir is about more than a single night, and Uwiringiyimana leads the reader back to the beginning to describe in detail her happy life in the Democratic Republic of Congo, albeit one periodically interrupted by conflict and challenged by poverty, before the Gatumba massacre.  Equal focus is given to her life in America, and the struggles she faced as a refugee assimilating to American culture during the tumultuous middle grades years.  Channeling her grief through photography and activism, Uwiringiyimana has become a spokesperson for children in conflict, addressing the United Nations Security Council and serving as cofounder and director of partnerships and communications at Jimbere Fund.  This book will appeal to students in grades 8 and up looking for “real” stories. --Anne Lotito-Schuh

Uwiringiyimana, Sandra, and Abigail Pesta. How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child. Katherine Tegen Books, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2017. Print.