Child of the Jungle

December 18, 2006
In 1980, when Kuegler was seven, she accompanied her German linguist parents into the Papuan (New Guinea) jungle to live with the Fayu, a Stone Age tribe of naked people with bones through their noses. She felt immediately at home and by her own account had an idyllic childhood till she was 17, even though the Fayu were split into four mutually hostile subtribes in a culture of "hate, fear and tribal war," where children "knew no security or innocence" and had "little love, no forgiveness and no peace." After years of close friendship with Fayu children, eventually Kuegler was sent to boarding school in Switzerland, had a baby shortly after she graduated, married, divorced, sank into depression and attempted suicide. Young readers, and anthropologists, too, will find this account of a most unusual childhood engrossing and will root for the survival of the Fayu.

January 1, 2007
An earnest tale of an idyllic childhood in a missionary family in Papua New Guinea, this German best seller ("Dschungelkind") has touched the hearts of readers around the world. The glow of family love and the agony of coming of age are just as poignant in an exotic locale. Exotic it certainly was; Kuegler's family were among the first Westerners ever encountered by the tribe called Fayu, who, according to Kuegler, were influenced by her family's example to refrain from blood feuds and to accept some aspects of Western technology, hygiene, and, yes, Christianity. While the missionary aspect of her book has drawn criticism, Kuegler describes Fayu life from the practical perspective of a child innocent of racism. She is equally honest about her shock and dismay when she eventually encounters European life as a teenager. Kuegler ends her book in despair of ever adjusting fully to the Western world. Since she plans a return visit to Papua, however, a sequel may be expected. Recommended for all public libraries.Lisa Klopfer, Eastern Michigan Univ., Ypsilanti

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2006
Kuegler, who has resided in the "modern world" for only 15 years, begins her extraordinary memoir in 1980, when at age 8 she and her German family moved to the "Lost Valley" in Indonesia's interior, home of the primitive Fayu tribe. Despite the difficult living conditions--boiled river water for baths, a kerosene stove for cooking, an abundance of insects, snakes, and plate-sized spiders--Sabine always feels at home there, living "a life without stress in midst of nature, untouched by modern civilization." She and her siblings teach the native children soccer and hide-and-seek; in return they learn how to survive in the jungle. Kuegler's family gradually teaches its hosts to break the cycle of revenge and murder that has ruled their behavior for centuries, causing the Fayu to live in constant fear, never sure of a viable future. Eventually Kuegler forsakes this world, returning to Germany to pursue traditional education and marriage, but she never forgets the tranquility and comfort she derived from her years in the jungle.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)