A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park Book Review

The way water dictates Nya’s life is because she doesn’t have clean water. An example is when walking to the pond and back and stepping on thorns when she didn’t have shoes. Another example is when she had to take multiple trips to the pond. In the text it says, (Page 20, chapter 4) “.... Nya would make her second trip to the pond. To the pond ad back-- to the pond and back--nearly a full day of walking altogether,” This quote shows that Nya has to take trips to get water every day. She doesn’t have shoes so she has to deal with stepping on rocks and thorns. 

During the dry season, things get even harder for her family when they settle near a lake, although Nya appreciates the fact that she no longer has to walk such a long distance for water. She has to drink it even if it’s dirty. Nyla had to deal with thorns getting in her feet. (Page 8, chapter 2) “...She looked at the bottom of her foot. There it was, a big thorn that had broken off right in the middle of her heel. Nya pushed at the skin around the thorn. 

Then she picked up another thorn and used it to poke and prod at the first one. She pressed her lips together at the pain,” This quote explains how Nya dealt with thorns because she didn’t have shoes to protect her feet. No matter if it’s dirty or not, Nya had to deal with drinking dirty water. In the text days, “Nya took the hollowed gourd that was tied to the handle of the plastic container. She untied it, scooped up the brown muddy water, and drank.” (Page 14, chapter 3) This quote explains how Nya had to drink muddy, contaminated water. Nya’s Job was to fetch water with her bare hands. (Page 26, chapter 5) “Nya’s job at the lake camp was the same as at home: to fetch water. With her hands, she would dig a hole in the damp clay of the lakebed. She kept digging, scooping out handfuls of clay until the hole was as deep as her arm was long….” This quote explains how Nya got water each day from the lakebed. She would dig until the clay got wetter and when the water would begin to seep into the bottom of the hole. 

Nyas' family always went to the lake camp for generations. Nya always liked being there. (Page 33, chapter 6) “.... Nya herself has been there every year since she was born. One thing she liked about the camp was that, even though she had to dig in the clay and wait for water, she did not have to make the two trips to the pond everyday.”  This quote explains how Nya liked the lake camp and even though she had to dig for water, she didn’t have to take two trips to the pond every day. Nya had a big plastic container to fill it with water and she had to drag it even if it took her the whole morning. (Page 1, chapter 1) “...She could even drag it behind her, bumping it against the ground and raising a tiny cloud of dust with each step. There was little weight, going. There was only heat, the sun already baking the air, even though it would take her half the morning if she didn’t stop on the way. Heat. Time. And thorns.” This quote explains how Nya had moved her container for water even if Heat, Thorns, and Time controlled it.