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About the Book

About the Book

How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child

This profoundly moving memoir is the remarkable and inspiring true story of Sandra Uwiringiyimana, a girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who tells the tale of how she survived a massacre, immigrated to America, and overcame her trauma through art and activism.

Sandra was just 10 years old when she found herself with a gun pointed at her head. She had watched as rebels gunned down her mother and six-year-old sister in a refugee camp. Remarkably, the rebel didn’t pull the trigger and Sandra escaped.

Thus began a new life for her and her surviving family members. With no home and no money, they struggled to stay alive. Eventually, through a United Nations refugee program, they moved to America, only to face yet another ethnic disconnect. Sandra may have crossed an ocean, but there was now a much wider divide she had to overcome. And it started with middle school in New York.

In this memoir, Sandra tells the story of her survival, of finding her place in a new country, of her hope for the future, and how she found a way to give voice to her people.

Audiobook available, read by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

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

  • Publication Date: May 15, 2018
  • Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Young Adult 12+
  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
  • ISBN-10: 0062470159
  • ISBN-13: 9780062470157